Trend spotting

As a semi-rebellious teenager, I tried my best to stay away from anything “trendy.” At the time, it was JNCO jeans, frosted tips and whatever Abercrombie & Fitch was selling that year. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, but I knew I didn’t want to be like everyone else.

In business, you can’t afford to ignore trends. Every day we’re inundated with the trending topics on social media. Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking on Grow Point, a “vodcast” or video podcast over Zoom to members of the Arizona Nursery Association. The topic was social media, and how to take what can be a time-sucking waste of time and turn it into a positive for your nursery.

In my talk, we covered how to determine what networks to prioritize for your business, best practices for posting engaging content, and presented a few case studies of growers who are doing a great job on social media. One of the questions an attendee asked was about trends, and how to engage with them as a brand. I gave him a sneak peek at this month’s cover story.

Starting on pg. 8, we examine the seven trends the Garden Media Group expects to see next year. Why should you pay attention to these trends? Well, if you are an early adopter, you can be among the first to fill these emerging consumer demands.

From catering to Gen Z, the youngest members of the workforce, to goth gardening, the fascination with dark hues for flowers and foliage and incorporating plants into spooky locales, the GMG report gives us a glimpse into what we can expect consumers to care about in the new year.

The trend of small-space container gardens, specifically hanging gardens, continues to grow. A National Gardening Association survey showed a 200% increase in the amount of homes engaged in container gardening in 2022. Overall spending increased by $50 million on container gardening. And hanging forms are best for the vertical videos preferred by trendy influencers on Instagram and TikTok.

You might be wondering what the heck “horti-futurism” is. The Garden Media Group says it’s a movement that has been brewing for a while. In many science-fiction novels, the vision of the future is cold and metallic. But botanical gardens and landscape design trends show a melding of the stark, clean lines with vibrant colors and plenty of green – signifying life. From the Philadelphia Garden Show’s The Garden Electric Exhibit to teamLab’s international horticulture exhibitions, futuristic displays have garnered rave reviews. What would horti-futurism look like? Would there be cyberpunk cities with neon lights illuminating alien-looking plants, closed ecosystem terrarium gardens that would survive on a spaceship, or maybe a utopian city like the one on our cover, with plants and people coexisting in harmony?

Do any of the 2024 trends speak to you? Will they change your production plans or do you expect business as usual next year?