According to the Washington Post’s Scott Vogel and his well-chosen local sources, here’s what’s IN in 2006:
–Dwarf and unusual evergreens
–Container gardening
–Foliage color – think caladiums, coleus and for the adventurous, alternanthera
–New varieties of petunias and hydrangeas for "all-season color"
–And the mo
st interesting trend of all: MEN in the garden. We’re told that "more and more men are finding a kind of tranquility" in the garden and "the trend threatens to become a full-fledged movement."
My comment: Let’s see if enough men stop obsessing over and dumping toxins onto their lawns and become real gardeners to make a difference, environmentally speaking.
Now here’s what’s OUT in 2006:
–Rectangular and square gardens, in favor of "smooth, scalloped beds"
–Large shade trees, sadly, as fewer lots have room for them
–Ornamental grasses, which are "becoming passe, although if you went around Washington you’d be hard-pressed to say it’s over"
–English ivy
–Lawns
My comments: See, guys, lawns aren’t cool anymore, so get over it. More good news are English ivy’s decline in popularity, and the growing preference for naturalistic design. The loss of large shade trees is a hot topic in my area and the conversation always ends with lots of head-shaking and no answers. The reference to ornamental grasses is a tad confusing and probably reflects designers being sick of them, although they’re still loved by their clients and thus, they’re all over town.
The article also offers some sound advice from Mark Viette of Andre Viette Nursery in Virginia, who’s pretty philosophical about gardening failures and successes. "If it lives, it lives, and if it dies, it dies," and we shouldn’t blame ourselves over it. "In the end, you must dig it up and throw it out, and do so without the slightest thought of beating yourself up." Excellent, but I’d go even farther in the spirit of Tough Love Gardening – possibly my theme for 2006 – to suggest ripping out plants that haven’t actually died but have been on life support for longer than you’d like to remember.
[The photo is just in from family therapist-avid gardener Rebecca Weinberg in Tucson, Arizona.]
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Ha! My dad’s been gardening for ages. In fact, aside from the roses, it’s all his. And he actively takes out more grass to put in gardens! Something about not liking grass.
The funny thing was the one year, he let the grass grow really long in one proto-garden and called it a grass garden. A lot of tall grasses sprung up surprisingly, before he got tired of it and mowed it.
Petunias? All-season color?
Sigh.
I go even further in my tough love approach. I dig up perfectly healthy plants and get rid of them because I get bored with them. Sometimes I find a home for them, sometimes I don’t. I have also been known to cut down large trees because I don’t like the variety. I always replace them with something I like better. I have never understood why people keep plants in their gardens they don’t like. Just because it was there when you bought the place doesn’t mean it has to stay.
Ornamental grasses are still all the rage in Australian gardens and public landscaping. Those in Washington proclaiming they are passe are maybe landscapers and nurseries wanting you to keep buying services and products rather than having hardy, self sufficient plants.
Large shade trees: yes, endangered here too by big new fence-to-fence houses.
Some plants can become as tiresome as the clothing we wear. I insist on wearing my ornamental grasses a little longer, tho…finally I moved where I can plant them–I missed out when they were a hot rage. I plant what I like & will use the Tough Love approach when necessary. Nothing worse than standing over a limp stick and hoping it will miraculously turn back into a healthy plant or just not liking the plant anymore–it happens.
Susan! What are you saying? Wash your mouth out. I’m not a sole lawn lover but I do love gardens with well kept lawns.
I think that keeping a vast lawn manicured well is a great achievement and should be recognised for its worth to the garden experience.
I do however agree that fertilising them with chemical fertilisers is awful but there are many ways to fertilise a lawn organically without dumping phosphates on them.