Five 2023 gardening trends you need to know about
26 January 2023With a frosty chill gripping the nation, gardening is probably the last thing on your mind right now. Many of us will be choosing cosy blankets and hot mugs of tea over venturing outside, but you can still start planning the gardening jobs you can conquer throughout 2023.
Start early and you will reap the rewards later in the year with your new build home’s garden being the talk of the neighbourhood. In this month’s blog, we reveal the top five gardening trends for 2023 and how you can implement them in your own garden.
1. Grow your own
Rising costs of living in the UK are causing concern for many of us. In fact, 86% of UK adults are concerned about day-to-day living costs according to PWC. This year will see gardeners making more of an effort to grow their own, particularly fresh herbs. With seeds costing pennies not pounds, it’s much more efficient to grow your own and you will find you will enjoy larger quantities of herbs compared to the packets you can buy in the supermarket.
They’ll last a lot longer too if you provide them with plenty of water, fertile soil and direct sunlight. So, when is the best time to plant herbs? You can start growing them now under glass with or without heat until April. When soil condition allows, you can start sowing seeds of coriander and dill outside from March onwards.
2. Climate resilient gardens
With the effects of climate change at the forefront of our minds, many gardeners will be looking to create climate resilient gardens this year. The heatwave in the summer of 2022 caused a drought in the UK with many plants dying so gardeners will seek alternatives this year such as gravel gardens to minimise watering.
If gravel isn’t your thing, don’t worry! There are plenty of beautiful plants that thrive in the heat. Turn your garden into a tropical paradise with palms such as the Chusan Palm, add a pop of colour with climbers such as the Trumpet Vine, or create show-stopping borders with small Sunflowers and California Poppies.
3. Sustainability will be key
Gardeners will be looking at how they can transform and maintain their outdoor spaces using sustainable methods throughout 2023. Out with the nasty weed killer and in with the mulches says Garden Designer Matthew Childs. He told Ideal Home: “Mulches! It may not sound very exciting, but I’m going to be paying much more attention to how I dress the surface of planting areas to help keep moisture in the soil and competing weeds out so that our planting schemes are more resilient to the changing climate.”
It's also important to start embracing environmentally friendly wood-based alternatives rather than peat-based bagged compost as by 2024, peat for use in the amateur gardening world will be banned.
4. Furniture will embrace a neutral palette
We’re starting to see the back of grey furniture now as gardeners start to embrace a more neutral palette when choosing their outdoor furniture. Taking inspiration from European design, many will opt for warmer browns and stylish taupes which can be brought to life through outdoor soft furnishings, coffee tables, weather-resistant rugs, and clay pavers.
Zara Home leads the way in neutral outdoor furniture. Click here to view their current collection.
5. Give your garden back to wildlife
The UK’s garden wildlife continues to decline due to climate change, pollution and hydrological degradation. To ensure species such as hedgehogs and birds don’t become extinct, it’s important for gardeners to encourage wildlife back into their garden.
With everyone keen to do their part for nature, 2023 will see more gardeners embrace wildlife than ever before. We’re giving our homeowners a helping hand at our Bovey Tracey site, Longston Cross, by installing hedgehog highways in the fences of some plots, allowing hedgehogs to pass safely between gardens.
Other things you could do to help would be to introduce a bird feeder, add a bird bath and lay down some food for hedgehogs overnight, particularly in the winter months. What do hedgehogs eat? They love meat-based wet cat or dog food!
We hope you have found our top five gardening trends for 2023 useful and that your brain is now whirling with possibilities for your new build garden. If you decide to transform your garden this year, we would love to see your photos on social media. Just remember to tag Devonshire Homes on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter!