In the spirit of my annual New Year's resolution to learn something new every day, I researched how to incorporate butterfly-friendly natives into my partially shaded garden on Calscape and read up on garden design trends for 2025. It turned out that there are even more new trends more a memory of the good past than revolutionary ideas. Here are a few to consider.
Adapt to the challenges of a changing world by finding harmony in a less cluttered garden. Yes, you read that correctly. A more relaxed and organic gardening style encourages nature to thrive. The birds, insects, and other creatures will thank you if you don't rush to clean up dead perennials, remove seed heads, or rake up every leaf in the garden.
Fireproof gardening can play a big role in creating a defensible space around your home. Focus on creating a garden that is not only beautiful and environmentally friendly, but also more resilient to a wildfire. This also doesn't have to mean covering the ground 30 feet from the house with gravel. There are many ways to protect your home.
Add more native plants and “nativars,” which are cultivated native plants specifically designed to grow well and fit into residential gardens. While native plants are usually defined as growing in nature without human intervention, “natives” arise by selecting and crossing native plant seedlings to produce characteristics such as compact size or brighter flowers. In many cases, they provide food and habitat for pollinators and wildlife while also adapting to the home garden.
If you want a low-water landscape but aren't just interested in succulents, you can achieve it all by choosing plants with foliage and bright flowers. Create your own version of a cottage garden by planting shrubs like grevillea and blue hibiscus, as well as perennials like yarrow, catnip and kangaroo paw. You can still use water responsibly and also have a beautiful garden.
Container gardening never goes out of style. Bring nature to your patio, entryway, windowsill, patio – wherever you can enjoy edibles, fragrant flowers, lush foliage or any combination of your choosing.
Following past trends: embrace the smaller garden. You can instantly create a meditation garden that invites you to stop and sit for a few minutes by placing a small bench where you can look at something interesting in your garden. Small gardens are not only compact, they are also easier to maintain. Containers on the patio or deck allow you to grow plants for food and for birds and bees. New varieties of dwarf vegetables, herbs and flowers are introduced every year.
Combine ornamental plants with edibles. Your vegetables don't have to be in a special raised bed or bed, but can be planted throughout the garden. Think tomatoes, runner beans and other vining vegetables growing on a metal obelisk in a perennial bed. Or compact versions of beans, eggplant, chard, peppers, tomatoes or edible flowers like nasturtiums, planted among your other plants or along path edges.
It's all about enjoying your garden in a way that works for you. Nothing is that personal.
Jan Nelson, a landscape architect and California certified horticulturist, will answer questions about gardening in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Send her an email at And*****@ao*.caroundor visit jannelsonlandscapedesign.com.