Checking out New Garden Trends for 2012

The rain is back, well, it doesn't really go away here. Let's just say its a good week for the ducks that swim in the waterway behind my home.
Its also a good day to be spending time poring over all those wonderful seed catalogues that have recently arrived. Have you planned your spring garden yet? Are you planting vegetables or flowers this year? One of the newest trends out there this year is the planting of food anywhere you can find a spot. I know hubby and I have already discussed removing some ornamental plants and building raised beds for more space to grow food. I mean why not? The taste of fresh home grown veggies is so superior to store bought produce. We will also be reducing our carbon footprint.



I like the idea of being able to eat strictly local foods and food that is in season. Being able to walk in to my back yard and pick something for dinner.There is nothing like it!



This is also the year, as Steve Whysall said in his Vancouver sun story yesterday, that we will see more front yard gardens. Now this has been happening all over North America. We are just a bit too conservative here as Canadians to get this idea wrapped around our heads. We still have the love affair with the lawn. Not sure why though, we cant eat lawn. Somehow it just seems a waste of space that could be better used to grow food. I mean why not grow some fruit trees? Remember the days when every yard here in Delta had a few fruit trees if not a mini orchard. Don't give the excuse that your yard is too small. After all they do make dwarf fruit tress and you can espalier many trees against a fence to save space.
Speaking about fences, another new trend is to grow things vertically. Small space gardeners know all about this. Using trellises and arbors, you can grow up to the sky with so many plants. People are even creating vertical gardens using old pallets just like Fern Richardson does here in this post.



So what will your garden look like this year? Now is the time to start thinking about it. The new colours for this year are bold and vivacious. Tangerine Tango is the new colour for gardens this summer. It sounds like we will be dancing in our gardens. Can't you just hear the flamenco music? For me, I am one that looks for peaceful colours such as the pinks and blues so the jury is still out on whether I decide to use this orange in my gardens. Orange will be everywhere from interior design to outdoor living. You just have to google 'tangerine tango' to see whats in vogue for this year. Hmmmm....I wonder if pumpkins fall in to this new colour category? At least I can eat them. That will be as orange as I get in my garden.