Gardening is an innately cyclical activity; the seasons change and in turn change our plants and soil. This makes gardening and gardeners prone to adopting New Year’s resolutions. For those who may be unfamiliar with this particular tradition, a New Year’s resolution is a promise to ourselves to do something differently or improve in some way in the new year. Popular resolutions are more exercise, a healthier diet, or more time spent on personal growth. If you would like for your New Year’s resolution (or resolutions!) to include your garden, we have some thoughts we’d like to share.
First off, we won’t be giving you a list of specific resolutions or ideas for resolutions. Our reasoning is that every garden is different and every gardener is different, and what works for you may not be a great resolution for someone else. Your New Year’s resolutions for gardening or anything else are your own, and you need to adopt the goals and mindsets that will work best for you in 2026.
With that said, let’s move forward!
We’ve found that New Year’s resolutions in the garden work best if they fit your gardening goals, so this might be a great time for all of us to take a few minutes and list out what our goals are for our gardens and ourselves going forward into 2026. Maybe you have a new plant you’d like to grow in your garden space, or a new gardening technique you’d like to try for a season. It could be as simple as wanting to learn more about a specific facet of gardening or botany—a new reading list is a fun way to start any new year! Take a moment, write out your goals, and see how they might translate into a productive and enjoyable New Year’s resolution.
Our next suggestion is to work with what you’ve already got in progress when planning a gardening resolution for the coming year. Maybe you’re like us and you’ve let your garden journal slide and it’s time to become more disciplined about that. We all have gardening projects we’ve been putting off or procrastinating on, and the new year might be a great time to jump-start those endeavors and get them moving again. Big or small doesn’t matter; growth comes from consistency and effort in whatever garden space we have and whatever type of garden we enjoy most.
We also firmly believe that it’s always a good time to connect or reconnect with the natural world beyond our gardens. We’re all part of the same planet and it’s good to remind ourselves of this fundamental fact. It can be a simple as spending more time exploring nature in a nearby park, setting up a bird feeder, or one of our favorites: installing pollinator-friendly plants in our garden. Again, you can tailor this to whatever works best for your garden and your needs/abilities.
While we’re out connecting with nature, let’s also consider connecting with our fellow gardeners. Gardzen is all about community, and we’d love for each of you to reach out to the gardening community around you. This can be a garden club, a seed exchange, or just a casual discussion over coffee—again, you can find the approaches that work for you. We’ve found over the years that having a bit of a community (or community garden!) helps us learn and grow as gardeners while also introducing us to new friends and new ideas.
And finally: take some time for yourselves. We all need to remember that gardening is meant to be rewarding and enjoyable, and sometimes just sitting with our plants in our garden space is enough. Big or small, every garden is worthy and every gardener is doing something special. Here at Gardzen, we’re grateful to be part of your gardening journey and your garden, and we hope to stay part of your gardening life for many years to come. Let’s make 2026 a great year for gardening! Happy New Year from all of us; there are great things ahead and we’re looking forward to celebrating them with you.
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