Gardening trends 2018: tough shrubs, seaweed and nematodes could be in your future

When I ask professional growers and garden centre managers about trends in the gardening world the answer is nearly always the same: depends on the weather. 

For 2018, they could be more right than ever. For instance, a dry winter could lead to hosepipe bans. Two dry winters in a row are often enough to put water restrictions in place in some parts of the UK, and in winter 2016-17 rainfall was only 76 per cent of the national average in most places.

The Horticultural Trades Association has been discussing this, saying growers need to prepare for potential water restrictions if rainfall fails to reach 10-15 per cent more than normal in some areas this winter. In 2012, during the last hosepipe ban, plant sales fell 20 per cent and gardeners fretted about their plants dying and being fined for breaking the law until the rains came in May. 

On the other hand, a wet spring this year could result in a slug and snail epidemic. And there will be fewer chemicals on garden centre shelves to kill them with. Ingredients such as neonicotinoids (found in pesticides) and glyphosate (in weedkillers) have come under pressure from EU legislators because of links to bee decline and cancer respectively.

This means that alternative pest control solutions, such as nematodes, are gaining in popularity. Nematodes are small worms that eat pests such as leatherjackets, chafer grubs and vine weevil larvae. Neudorff has introduced the first off-the-shelf nematodes for sale in 2018 and has seen orders into garden centres reach 38 per cent above its forecast. 

The chemicals used in commercial plant production will continue to come under scrutiny. This year the RHS had to withdraw its Perfect for Pollinators marketing logo which garden centres were encouraged to use when promoting plants that attract bees. The RHS had to acknowledge that it is impossible to guarantee that all such plants will be free of neonicotinoids. 

Wet weather in Ireland in 2017 meant peat harvests were down so, in turn, prices for peat-based compost will rise in 2018, say big suppliers such as Scotts and Bord na Móna. This means the traditionally more expensive peat-free alternatives, such as bark and coir-based composts, could be on a more level playing field price-wise in 2018.

Keep it natural

Gardeners are increasingly keen on natural fertilisers and seaweed products could gain market share this year. The market leader, Maxicrop, will be joined this year by Australian bestseller Seasol, marketed by SBM (formerly Bayer Garden). Irish company Fast Grow has also entered the market.

Seaweed products are a good source of potassium, magnesium and trace elements and are useful for organic gardeners wishing to avoid synthetic fertilisers or fertilisers made from animal products. Seaweed and seaweed fertilisers are usually a sustainable, renewable resource. Mr Fothergill’s found demand so strong this winter, it had to order an extra shipping container of Seasol, containing 18,900 one-litre bottles. 

Demand for organic fertilisers and chemicals is slowly increasing (although “naturals” still only account for less than 10 per cent of the market). Big companies such as Westland, Scotts and SBM all launched new ranges at industry trade show Glee in September. Vegan and “clean” eating trends could be helping to drive this, as a more radically environmental generation of gardeners takes to growing food. 

New diseases

Two of the big questions for 2018 are, once again, how will Brexit affect British gardeners and will the continental plant disease Xylella fastidiosa reach these shores? As the UK strengthens its borders against plant pests and diseases to try to prevent another ash dieback or Dutch elm disease ravaging the countryside, we could see an increase in UK plant production. A Brexit-led rise in import costs could also encourage greater self-sufficiency.

“Save the Oak” could be the new save the elm or ash campaign. The Government’s Animal and Plant Health Agency and the new Action Oak Partnership, which includes Kew and the National Trust, are to exhibit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show to push the message that threats such as xylella, honey fungus, mildews and oak processionary moth are putting Britain’s national tree in peril. 

Also at Chelsea, 2012 Olympics designer Sarah Price is the favourite for Best Show Garden for her M&G Mediterranean-style design. However, there will be some plants she cannot use – the RHS has banned imports of plants such as olives and lavenders because of the risk of xylella, which has killed off whole olive groves in southern Italy. 

Totally telly

Here’s a left-field micro-trend. Remember Poldark, where actor Aidan Turner was famously shown topless wielding a scythe? Well, in his recent book Down to Earth, television gardener Monty Don endorsed this trend: he says that gardeners should eschew the lawnmower in favour of the scythe in order to benefit the environment. There were even 1,500 scythes sold in the UK in 2017, according to the Scythe Association of Britain and Ireland. 

Talking of television, greengrocer-turned-presenter Chris Bavin will present a series on Britain in Bloom on BBC Two in 2018. The British Tourist Authority started backing the competition in 1964 after Roy Hay, the horticulture journalist, visited France and was struck by the glorious floral displays he saw while travelling through the country. The first winner was the city of Bath. The RHS took over the competition from Tidy Britain in 2001. In each episode, Bavin visits a different community around the UK as they prepare for judging. 

Bavin is a bit “gor blimey”, in the mould of MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace. The democratisation of gardening television is also represented by Adam Frost on Gardeners’ World and by makeover kings David Domoney (Love Your Garden) and Nick Knowles (DIY SOS). 

Generation Rent, shrubbies & foodies

Indoor gardening – houseplants – will remain a trend and will branch out into areas such as aquascaping: planted aquariums, with associated courses in garden centres on how to build them. 

Houseplant collections have taken off on Instagram as people who want to garden but often don’t have any outdoor space compare their stylish indoor jungles. Just about every retailer and restaurant in the country now has a display of succulents. The big question is: will we reach peak houseplant in 2018? 

However, the shrub market is also on its way back. People are looking harder at what they know – British shrubs that will survive and are tested and proven. Talking to plant buyers at garden centres such as Klondyke and to nurseries such as Hillier and Farplants, strong architectural plants will also be on trend for 2018. Grasses, ferns, phormiums and cordylines add fantastic structure and texture to a garden.

Sales of chilli plants are set to rise as growers promote them for flavour, rather than just trying to grow the hottest. East Anglia grower Gourmet Genetics’ Mark Rowland and Maggie Goodsell are growing smoky, minty, citrus, perfumed and spicy chillies. ‘Havana Gold’ from Suttons is subtle and is good for making chilli powder. Capsicum baccatum ‘Spangles’ from Mr Fothergill’s is mild, perfumed and sweet. It changes colour from purple-white-yellow-red, making it a good edible ornamental. 

Industry body Fleuroselect has named 2018 the year of the pepper (and the marigold, which I don’t see becoming fashionable). 

In outdoor plants, planting in containers remains the trend as garden size shrinks. Compact fruit trees are set to be a big trend thanks to award-winners such as Suttons’s mulberry Morus rotundiloba ‘Charlotte Russe’, which won best new plant at Chelsea 2017, and Frank P Matthews’s apricot ‘Compacta’, which sold out after a mention on Gardeners’ World on BBC Two.  The trend is led by people wanting fruiting and edible plants for the smaller gardens that are the norm these days. 

Big projects afoot

China looms large – rumours of a licence for a “Chinese Chelsea” abounded after RHS top brass visited the Far East this year. It seems brand-obsessed China wants the world-leading show to pop-up at one of its cities.  The RHS Chelsea Flower Show is set to have at least two Chinese show gardens in 2018, from Hay Hwang and Patrick Collins/Laurie Chetwood. 

Cornwall’s Eden Project is known to be developing three similar schemes in China with the original designers of the famous botanic biospheres, Grimshaw Architects. Eden Qingdoa will explore the theme of water and its importance for life on earth. Another Eden is planned for Yan’an and a third for Beijing, where an international horticultural expo is in the pipeline for 2019.

UK involvement is likely, ahead of a possible UK garden festival-style expo in the 2020s. Beijing will include 100 show gardens and attract 16 million visitors over five months. But you don’t have to visit China to get a flavour of its horticulture. In the Lancashire fishing port of Fleetwood, EdenParks, part of Dutch glasshouse company Smiemans Projecten, has designed a Chinese-themed botanical garden designed to offer visitors a walk-through of three different regions of China from a tropical flora perspective.

Matthew Appleby is deputy editor of trade journal Horticulture Week. His new book, Super Organic Gardening, about animal-friendly gardening, will be published  later in 2018.