Gardening is timeless but gardening is also full of trends, seasonal fads, and new ideas. The philosophical implications of that dichotomy are a subject for another blog—for now, we’d like to explore some of the garden design trends and ideas that are in vogue this spring. 2025 is going to be an exciting year for gardening across the US and Canada, so let’s take a look at some of the fun and exciting gardening designs and motifs that may be popular this season!
Natural Gardens Are In Style!
At Gardzen we’re long-time advocates of natural, eco-friendly gardens that incorporate native plants, biodiversity, and support local insects and wildlife. We’re thus gratified to report that “natural” gardens are in style for 2025, with many gardeners embracing a messier, less cultivated approach to landscape design. Drought-tolerant natives and wildflowers are replacing carefully manicured grass, moss and vines are growing on walls, fences, and other garden features, and hummingbirds, bumblebees, and other wildlife abound. We have to say that this is a really positive step in gardening and one that we wholly support!
Celebrating Containers and Vertical Gardens
Large and lavish landscape gardens will always have a place, but this year the focus of many gardening trends is on smaller spaces and making use of vertical spaces. This can take many forms—a few containers on a patio with decorative plants or a veggie garden may be a fine start! Vertical interest is another popular feature this year—trellised vining plants, small vertical shrubs, or vertical garden setups will all get some time in the spotlight in 2025. The good news for many of us is that it’s relatively easy to incorporate these features and ideas into any garden space, adding new depth and space ideas to even large gardens.
Vegetables and Food Gardens For Everyone
With food prices on the rise and more folks interested in eating healthy, natural diets, there’s a growing interest in vegetable gardens and food gardens. You may notice some of your landscape-loving friends and neighbors installing veggie gardens next to their decorative spaces. The good news is that this is generally fairly easy to do in an existing garden space, whether in containers, raised beds, or in-ground beds. You may want to start your own seeds or get to the nursery early to pick up your seedlings—growing demand means that plants may fly off the shelves!
Living Fence Make Good Neighbors
The old saying—often attributed to Benjamin Franklin—is that “good fences make good neighbors”. In 2025, those fences may just be living fences of hedges, shrubs, or other plants. This may be a fine idea for many gardens and backyards, as living fences are more environmentally-friendly, sustainable, and last for far longer than wood or chain-link fences. They do require regular care and pruning in order to stay healthy and may take time to get established. But as a long-term garden feature they are overall both more affordable and more sustainable than human-produced fencing and thus an option (and a trend) worth considering.
“Touch Grass” in 2025
In an increasingly networked and digital culture, we could all use some more outdoor time in 2025. One of the most popular garden trends of the year is gardens that let us “touch grass”, IE get some much-needed time with nature and away from screens. As with all things gardening, this can take many forms—some seating in your garden to enjoy in your free time, a cluster of house plants around your favorite reading chair, or a windowsill garden with a view of your neighborhood. Gardens aren’t about plants, they’re about people, and this year we’ll see a trend towards gardens as self care as well as plant care.
Start Your Own Garden in 2025!
The most important trend in 2025 is that we all create the garden we need and want. If you’re new to gardening, welcome! We hope this blog helps to inspire you—there's a lot of useful information here and you can always ask questions in the comments or via email. Whatever you do in 2025, we hope you get to create and enjoy your own garden. Trends can be fun, but the most important thing is that you get the garden you need and enjoy, one that’s healthy for you, your plants, and your space!
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