TOP 10 gardening trends and predictions in 2024

With the madness of Christmas behind us for another year, we’re looking forward to the seasons to come, and identifying gardening trends we’re likely to see in the world of growing. Here’s what trends in gardening we’re convinced we’ll see more of in 2024.

Self sufficiency

Growing your own fruit, veg and herbs is no longer seen as a quirky ‘Good Life’ lifestyle, and is instead viewed with interest by those who want to know a little more about where their food comes from. The satisfaction of enjoying a meal made with ingredients that you grew yourself, even if only in a container in a courtyard, is unmatched; and more of us want in on the magic.

Purse-friendly planting

Household budgets are tight, and they show no signs of loosening anytime soon. However, we gardeners can do what we do best; adapt to the conditions. Therefore, we’re likely to see an increase in people buying smaller plants to tend, as well as seeds to grow from scratch as opposed to buying established plants. The art of growing from cuttings is likely to be practised by many too, and plant swaps will become a budget-friendly way to share the plant love.

Community gardening

With numerous mental health benefits to both growing a garden, looking after house plants, and getting together with likeminded folk, the collaborative nature of gardening seems set to become even more popular. This could take the form of the plant swaps, as well as plant hubs, plant markets, local gardening community products, and allotment groups.

Bringing colour indoors

Whether you work from home and could do with a little more colour to your everyday life, or you just want to make a statement that stands out, colourful house plants are likely to boom in 2024. This could be in the shape of colourful foliage, such as the sweetheart plant, or flowering varieties that cheer up any room with vibrant blooms; orchids are fantastic for this.

More focus on provenance

Just as we want to know where our food comes from, many of us have an interest in the provenance of our plants too, which leads to an interest in obtaining sustainable plants from smaller, more local growers. Common priorities include best practice when it comes to planting and growing, as well as peat free soil, slow grown varieties, and low plant miles.

Due to the cost and complication of importation as the post-Brexit rules change this year, garden centres and supermarkets may move towards more British plant suppliers. Imported bromeliads and peace lilies may make way for more British-grown alternatives, such as ferns, orchids and calathea.

Eco-friendly growing

Making a difference in our own corners of the world is still high on the list of priorities for us gardeners. Therefore, throughout 2024 and beyond we can expect to see a continued interest in wildlife gardens and eco-friendly gardening (such as a move to peat-free soil), with natural planting schemes and plants for pollinators front and centre. We love a long lawn full of flowers for the bees.

Drought tolerant plants

Many gardeners have had to replace plants due to extreme weather events in the last 2 years - it’s been pretty hot! A move to hardier plants will ensure that a garden can still thrive, even while the climate changes around us, so you’ll likely see more species such as agapanthus, geranium, gaura and sage enjoy a boom in popularity.

The garden favourites go on

Whilst we may be changing our ways to reflect our environment, the classics remain close to our hearts - this isn’t going to change, we hope! Popular plants include roses, clematis, lavender and hydrangeas, whose colour and resilience continue to delight gardeners across the UK.

Continued resurgence for Venus fly traps

Sales of the carnivorous Venus fly trap soared at the end of 2023 due to a certain department store’s famous Christmas advert - who else could influence us all as well as John Lewis does?! We reckon that the ripples from this ad will continue across 2024, with the hungry house plants popping up on more and more windowsills.

Plant parties

Believe it or not, throwing a party for your plant is becoming an increasingly celebrated milestone, with data from Moonpig showing there are on average 2,000 monthly searches for how to celebrate the ‘birthdays’ reached by their ‘leafy friends’.

Rely on Plants4Presents for trending plant gifts

Here at Plants4Presents, we’re always so fascinated to see which plants rise in demand from year to year, and we have no doubt that we’ll soon start seeing some of the above predictions trickle through in our industry. As always, you can count on us to have thriving varieties of many popular plants, whether you know a loved one that would adore it, or you fancy treating yourself to a growing gift.