8 Garden Trends to Inspire Your Next Backyard Project

We’ve realized that nature can nourish us during difficult times, so we’ve placed bird feeders, established gardens, and grown to appreciate patio life.

According to a National Gardening Association poll, more than half of us are spending an extra two hours a day outside compared to before the epidemic, and we’re not about to go back inside in 2022.

Instead, we’re more excited than ever to experiment with our yards, porches, and patios.

“People will be looking to profit on their outdoor areas now that they’ve tasted how much fun they get from them,” says garden influencer Erin Schanen.

What are our plans? Bringing our home office outside, restoring native species to our landscapes, and transforming our front yards into inviting gathering spots for friends and family.

Here are the top 2022 gardening trends to help you make the most of your outdoor settings.

1. The Social Front Yard

The pandemic’s isolation has left us yearning for human connection and community.

The front porch has returned, allowing us to sit outside and chat with the neighbors from a safe distance.

In 2021, social media references of the front porch or yard reached a five-year high.

“Front porches have become into meeting places,” Schanen explains.

“People will tidy them up in major and small ways so they’ll be ready when friends or neighbors come around.”

Add comfy seats, plant pots, and an outdoor rug to your porch to make it ready for socializing.

Have no porch? Choose a front-yard patio. You will have more living space and less grass to mow.

2. Beautiful & Lush gardens

Enough with the neutral tones and simplicity already. Purple is Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2022.

(The official term is Very Peri, but it’s a bright, happy purple.)

Choose bright outdoor settings to carry on the trend in the garden.

Hang ferns around and pick plants with huge, striking blossoms.

Think polychrome instead of monochromatic.

Make your outdoor areas a Grandmillenial-style haven of vibrant maximalism. We could all need a little joy after two years of epidemic.

3. Backyard Birding Continues to Grow

Since the epidemic began, we’ve spent a lot of time at home, which has helped us discover the birds who live in our yards.

Sales of bird feeders and birdseed (which climbed by 50% in 2021) are expected to continue to soar as hybrid work becomes the norm.

Download Audubon’s Bird Guide app to help you identify the birds visiting your feeder and join the trend.

Plan to participate in this year’s Global Big Day Bird Count, a 24-hour global event in May during which you may report live bird sightings on Cornell’s free eBird site.

The event has had record attendance the past two years, with birdwatchers spotting a record number of birds.

According to Schanen, all of the birdwatching will influence landscape choices.

“Homeowners will strive to build bird-friendly settings full with plants that can give refuge and food,” Schanen adds.

4. Planting for the Common Good

Expect greater interest in gardens and landscapes that rehabilitate rather than destroy the natural environment.

More than 67 million American homes purchased at least one plant last year because it helped pollinators or birds.

As the 21 million beginner gardeners who picked up a trowel during the epidemic improve their gardening abilities, this tendency will continue.

Check out the Garden for Wildlife collection from the National Wildlife Federation, which includes native plant collections from 36 states.

Growing a preservation garden is another method to protect the environment.

There are almost 4,400 endangered plants in the United States alone, representing one in every five of the world’s species.

Use the Center for Plant Conservation’s Rare Plant Finder Tool to see which plants in your area are endangered, and then plant some in your yard.

5. Homemade Bouquet Cutting Gardens

Fresh flowers brighten up a dreary environment, which is why flower sales grew 10% in 2021..

Fresh flowers, however, are getting less cheap as the cost of everything increases by double digits owing to inflation.

As a result, more individuals are starting cutting gardens.

It’s simpler than you may think to grow zinnias, dahlias, and black-eyed Susans.

Plant some seeds in a sunny area in the yard, water them, and you’ll have blooms for handmade bouquets throughout the summer.

Unlike flowers purchased from a grocery store or florist, yours will be cultivated locally rather than transported across the nation by a truck emitting climate-altering pollutants.

You may share your flowers with your friends because they are carbon-neutral and free. What’s not to like about that?

6. Home Offices on the Patio

Experts forecast that by 2022, 53 percent of the US workforce will be working from home.

If you fall into this category, setting up a workplace on your patio, yard, or deck will allow you to bring your laptop outside.

Natural light will make you appear better on Zoom, and sunshine may be a potent mood enhancer.

7. Container gardening for edibles

Many of us are renting for longer than we used to due to a housing shortage and rising property costs.

Because the average age of first-time homeowners is now 34, many Millennials don’t have enough space for a garden.

That doesn’t mean you should put off your plans to cultivate your own food.

Grow your own vegetables in a container garden on your terrace while saving for a down payment.

You can cultivate your own organic heirloom tomatoes for far less money than spending $6 per pound for organic heirloom tomatoes.

You’ll save money, eat better, and reduce your carbon footprint by eating locally.

Also, receive some peaceful aromatherapy while you work by placing a container full of plants like rosemary, lavender, or lemon balm near your outdoor work place.

8. Lawn Equipment That Is Quieter

The sale of new gas-powered lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and chain saws will be prohibited in California beginning in 2024, according to current trends in the United States.

Gas-powered mowers and blowers are still permissible in the other 49 states, but when almost 40 million people in California can no longer buy brain-rattlingly loud, gas-powered lawn tools, the future of lawn tools changes.

More powerful electric mowers and leaf blowers have previously been developed by the lawn-equipment business.

But, in order to fulfill the massive demand for zero-emissions equipment looming on the West Coast, these initiatives are now expected to reach next-level innovation in 2022.

As we continue to mow and trim our landscapes using less-loud electric tools, a new era of quieter lawn equipment and cleaner air is on the horizon.