Jhb North - Feb 24
A love affair
A love affair
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Growing trends<br />
Resilience is the word that seems to crop up in most garden trend predictions for 20<strong>24</strong>. But<br />
the mood is one of eco-optimism, and the desire to respond creatively to climate change.<br />
Climate change is having a sobering<br />
effect on gardening. We are looking<br />
for plants that survive feast or famine,<br />
strategies for making every drop of<br />
water count and natural habitats that<br />
provide sanctuary for garden wildlife<br />
that is increasingly under pressure.<br />
In their 20<strong>24</strong> Garden Trends Report<br />
the Garden Media Group have coined<br />
the term eco-optimism. Led by Gen<br />
Z, there is a swing away from ‘climate<br />
doomism’ and an approach that sees<br />
climate change as ‘an opportunity to<br />
make meaningful change.’<br />
A browse through Google offers plenty of creative ways to use less water and<br />
make every drop count. There’s a push to replace lawn with gravel, permeable<br />
paving, rainwater harvesting, and how to safely use grey water. Permaculture still<br />
leads the way with sustainable water use and re-use.<br />
Extreme weather? Be prepared by stocking up with shade cloth for heat, frost<br />
cover for colder winters and tuning into the shifts of the seasons by adjusting<br />
sowing and planting times.<br />
We’re adapting ... at every level of<br />
gardening, in our plant choices, garden<br />
styles, and how we garden. When<br />
choosing plants, labels count and<br />
words like heat or weather tolerant,<br />
low water use, disease resistant, non-<br />
GMO, pollinator friendly, make the sale.<br />
Guzmania bromeliads in tropical garden<br />
Grasses<br />
We’re planting ...<br />
gardens with hardier plants like perennials, succulents and<br />
grasses as well as tropical plants that cope with heat and a<br />
shortage of water.<br />
Tropical gardens have blossomed and one can only<br />
speculate that the popularity of indoor plants (mostly<br />
tropical) has something to do with it. Also, they are easy to<br />
maintain and are green all year round.<br />
Large leaved plants like Delicious Monsters and<br />
Philodendron, are back in fashion, and the brilliance of<br />
coloured foliage plants almost makes flowers obsolete.<br />
With tropical plants there is ample opportunity to play with<br />
texture, form and colour. Many can start as indoor plants<br />
before graduating outdoors. There’s also the aspect of<br />
hardiness, such as bromeliads that multiply quickly. Cannas<br />
are also making a comeback and coleus too.<br />
28 Get It Magazine <strong>Feb</strong>ruary <strong>24</strong>