Monrovia’s 8 gardening trends to watch out for in 2018

Monrovia has been around since 1926 so they have quite an established base of gardening knowledge. They’ve come up with what they believe will be the top trends this year.

“In 2018, the garden will be a both a haven and a laboratory as gardeners seek a respite from a stressful world, and also dive into the flood of new plant choices they’re seeing in garden centers and on social media,” says Jonathan Pedersen, Monrovia’s vice president of business development.

2018 gardening trends

1. Roses and Rhodies Renaissance: Old-time (or classic) shrubs are drawing more attention because of their compatibility and low effort/big reward potential.

2. Garden Tribe: Gardening as group therapy? Spending time in the dirt can help to define your world view.

Pine trees are expected to grow in popularity in 2018.

3. Pitch Perfect Pines: Pine trees have been in the background, outshined recently by boxwoods and birches. But that lack of recent attention just makes them more fresh.

4. Soil Matters: Soil regeneration is going to be a bigger focus for home gardeners, who could adopt some commercial agriculture principles.

5. Suburban plant hunters:  Almost nobody wants a cookie-cutter garden, so expect to hunt and travel to find those plants that no one else in the neighborhood is growing.

6. We See a Pattern: Patterned plants saw a 533 percent increase in “saves” on Pinterest in 2017, so there is solid interest in plants with dots, dashes and stripes.

Hydrangeas are becoming more resilient and gardeners are flocking to them.

7. Hydrangea Mania: The hydrangea has been popular, but now it’s becoming more customer-friendly. Improvements include some with sturdier stems and thicker leaves more able to tolerate the weather.

8. Show Me How: Gardeners new and old are taking an interest in learning from professionals, from everything from composting to chain saws.

More on gardening

For more on garden possibilities, check out Doug Oster’s coverage of the Mid Atlantic Nursery Trade Show in Baltimore here and here.