The best and worst garden trends have been revealed by tool firm Draper Tools
Trending well
Water features, summer houses and decking are viewed favourably among green-fingered Brits – as are herb gardens, living walls and outdoors kitchens. However, the nation is less enamoured with hot tubs, trampolines and wind chimes – and they’re also not keen on fences painted with orange wood stain, or conifers.
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Sustainability in the garden is increasingly popular too, with trends including composting and wildflowers or wild meadows making the top 30 list. Added to this, over half of the nation said the best thing about having a garden was attracting birds and wildlife to it. And a further third of people said the best thing was growing their own food.
Kev Smith Head of Marketing at Draper Tools said: “The research goes to show just how passionate we are about our gardens – clearly those polled have pretty strong opinions on what works and what doesn’t.”
“However gardens are a very personal thing and what is right for one person isn’t necessarily right for another, so if you’re happy with your garden then that’s all that matters.
“But it’s certainly fascinating – and a bit of fun – to find out what people are keen on and what they’re not quite so keen on.”
Trending not so well
When shopping for the garden the chances are Brits won’t be spending too much time looking at items such as shoe planters resembling old shoes, faux bicycle planters or metal wall ornaments resembling birds, animals or butterflies.
These are all considered to be bad trends – as are artificial topiary balls, sonic animal repellers and patio heaters.
However, some fashions have divided the nation’s gardeners – namely that staple of 1990s gardening TV shows, decking.
Wildlife enticing garden trends such as hedgehog homes, meadow areas and bumblebee nest boxes fall safely into the good trends list, as do tree houses, lanterns and ponds areas.
BEST GARDEN TRENDS – TOP 30
1. Bird feeders 2. Vegetable gardens 3. Water features 4. Lanterns/outdoor lights 5. Summer houses 6. Hanging baskets 7. Bird bath 8. Herb garden 9. Solar lighting 10. Green houses 11. Raised garden beds 12. Decking 13. Hedgehog homes 14. Ponds 15. Wild meadow area/growing of wildflowers 16. Fire pits 17. Composting 18. Built in BBQ/Outdoor kitchen 19. Planters 20. Garden pathways/stepping stones 21. Bumblebee nest boxes 22. Rose gardens 23. Tree houses 24. Rock gardens 25. Terracotta plant pots 26. Patio heaters 27. Garden bar/pub in a shed 28. Living walls 29. Repurposing household items to grow plants in – such as bathtubs, sinks, old bikes 30. Bird/animal box cameras
WORST GARDEN TRENDS – TOP 30
1. Gnomes 2. Fake grass 3. Plastic ornaments 4. Fake animal/bird statues e.g. Flamingos 5. Artificial topiary balls 6. Buddha statues 7. Trampolines 8. Hot tubs 9. Recycled old tires as plant containers 10. Pub in a shed 11. Ivy 12. Fences painted with orange wood stain 13. Wind chimes 14. Shoe planter (a planter that looks like a shoe) 15. Fairy gardens (tiny mini gardens for fairies) 16. Pretend bicycle planters 17. Metal bird/animal/butterfly wall ornaments 18. Garden tiki bar 19. Repurposing household items to grow plants in – such as bathtubs, sinks, old bikes 20. Outdoors beanbags 21. Crazy paving 22. Sonic animal repellers 23. Conifers 24. Decking 25. Patio heaters 26. Gas powered barbecues 27. Fire pits 28. Topiary (trimming hedges into shapes) 29. Chimeneas 30. Decorative crates
(survey by OnePoll, 2,000 UK adults with gardens)
