Gardening With a Purpose! All the Latest Trends

Gardening With a Purpose!

All the latest trends indicate that we as a society are doing our gardening with a purpose in mind - growing our own food, creating urban 'green' spots, planting flowers for bees & pollinators, reclamation and restoration, changing the esthetics of our neighborhoods and communities for the better, etc. Folks are becoming more in tune with nature and are promoting gardening for a multitude of reasons.

Not only is it a great stress reliever and source of relaxation, beautiful & satisfying, it's important to the health and well-being of the Earth and all of us. We are Earth's guardians and for the time we are here its 'caretakers'.

At the Vermont Wildflower Farm, we encourage gardening as a way to connect with nature, improve our environments, grow our own food and create urban 'green' areas in our communities. It's also important to connect our younger generation with gardening. We have definitely seen a positive impact with this trend.

Since early last year, we've seen a significant increase in those that have gardens in their backyards, while more than one-quarter have gardens in their front yard. With vegetable gardening up almost 20 percent and community gardens up 60 percent over last year, growing food for the table is certainly on the rise as is gardening with native plants, wildflowers and forbs for the benefit of our pollinators and wild creatures.

We are pleased to see more and more backyard conservationists transforming their yards, gardens, rooftops and urban areas into green and productive spaces which can only make a positive impact! Plants can live without us, but we cannot live without plants.

So, this season why not try your hand at something new and different that will have a definite impact.

Here are a few good choices:

Kid's Gardening - Try our new Weekend with the Kids Garden Box.  Let your children experience becoming one with nature with easy to grow wildflowers. It will provide positive entertainment and will be beneficial in not only learning about gardening in a hands-on experience, but it will also attract wonderful creatures from butterflies to bees and more, giving your kids a chance to experience everything firsthand! 

Urban Container Gardening - Those with small spaces can grow flower and herbs in an urban or city environment. If you do not have space for a vegetable or flower garden or if your present site is too small, consider raising fresh, nutritious, homegrown vegetables and herbs or try flower gardening in containers. A windowsill, patio, balcony, deck, roof top or doorstep can provide sufficient space for a productive container garden.

Rain Gardens - the plants in a rain garden are chosen for their ability to uptake and store water and to withstand drought. They are also extremely good at cleaning water of the nutrients and poisons that fill our lawns and gardens. A rain garden captures the run-off from major storms and stops it from flooding our already strained storm drains and sewage systems. So, add a rain garden to your area today.

Grow Your Own' Gardening - Grow your own vegetable and herbs. You don't have to start with full-blown vegetable garden. Why not try just tomatoes, lettuce and a few herbs. You can do this right on the deck of your home in containers or set aside a small area of your garden. It's super easy and we'll bet in no time you will expand it!

Native Plant or Wildflower Gardening - Use only native plants or wildflowers in an area of your landscape. Just take a small space and start an area of all native plants. They can be just as pretty as greenhouse annuals or perennials and the birds, bees and butterflies will love you.

Vertical, Floor or Table Gardening - Create an instantly lush vertical, floor or table garden and experience the magical fun of plants and flowers absolutely anywhere from your living room to your patio, kitchen counter or on the wall over your fireplace. Virtually any space can be transformed.