Lawn, Landscape & Garden Trends 2014

St. Louis, Missouri

TREND #1:Drought Tolerant Plants

TREND #1: Drought Tolerant Plants Purple Coneflower

This perennial blooms a rosy purple color in June-August. It requires little maintenance and minimal water. It’s also tolerant of deer and prefers full sun to light shade. Dowco typically uses this showy flower in naturalized areas that don’t have irrigation systems such as subdivision islands and common areas.

TREND #1: Drought Tolerant Plants

Popular Garden CombinationsMix up the Ornamental grasses –Some have feathery plumes, some have bold foliage like red, purple and blue, some grow taller than 10 feet while others stay low, some have fuzzy cattails on the ends, and some even resemble animals like zebras or porcupines. Mix up the colors – Plants come in all spectrums of the rainbow. Try using Azaleas for red, Daylily for orange, Black Eyed Susan for yellow, Spirea for lime green, Russian Sage for blue, Lavender for purple, and Stonecrop for light pink. Mix up the heights – Giving texture to your garden will really add aesthetic value. Drought tolerant vines will reach high to the sky followed by taller shrubs like Butterfly Bushes, mixed with a shorter Liriope, with drought tolerant groundcovers that creep low and everything in between.

TREND #2 Simple & Elegant

TREND #2: Simple & Elegant

Monochromatic Container Plantings

One color flower in an elegant container are going to be all the rage according to Garden Media’s 2014 Garden Trend Report.

TREND #3Gardening for the

Greater Good

TREND #3: Gardening for the Greater Good Composting

Recycling food scraps and creating compost is the new recycling. Composting can divert as much as 30% of household waste away from the landfill. In return, it is the simplest way to introduce nutrient-rich humus to beds which restore vitality to depleted soil and fuel plant growth.

TREND #3: Gardening for the Greater Good Rainwater Harvesting

Rainwater collecting using attractive barrels in the backyard has become a trend because of the many benefits the homeowner can directly see including:Reducing water bills by using rainwater instead of irrigation when possibleImproved plant growth because stored rainwater is free of pollutants, salts, minerals and other contaminantsReducing flooding and erosion by reducing peak storm water run off.

FIVE FACTS ON THE LATEST

GARDENING TRENDS

5 Facts on the Latest Gardening Trends

FACT 1:The sale of perennial flowers is up 10 percent in the last 10 years while the sale of annuals is down 10 percent. (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

FACT 2: America's 85 million DIY gardeners spend an average of $347 a year on plants and gardening products, doing so mostly at home-improvement centers (27%), mass merchants (20%), local garden centers and nurseries (17%) and local hardware stores (15%). (National Gardening Association)

5 Facts on the Latest Gardening Trends

FACT 3: Gardeners still get most of their information from friends and neighbors (47%) and garden centers and nurseries (44%) – although both of those rates fell from 2012. The remaining top five resources are magazines and newspapers (34 percent), books (32 %) and gardening web sites (26 %). (Garden Writers Association Foundation)

5 Facts on the Latest Gardening Trends

FACT 4: North Americans spend more per year on lawn and garden purchases ($58 billion) than they do on pets ($53 billion), weddings ($42 billion) or casinos ($36.4 billion). However, it's less than that spent on weight-loss methods ($61 billion) and Christmas gifts ($586 billion). (Garden Media Group)

5 Facts on the Latest Gardening Trends

FACT 5: What exactly are gardeners spending their money on? 1.) Lawns and grass; 2.) vegetables and fruits; 3.) perennial flowers; 4.) trees and shrubs, and 5.) annual flowers. (Garden Writers Association Foundation)

5 Facts on the Latest Gardening Trends

Dowco is the premier provider of lawn and landscape maintenance in the Chesterfield area. We are committed

to improving the quality of your life so that you can spend time doing the things you want to do! Our full service menu includes weekly maintenance of your

property, plant health visits, and modern site enhancements.

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