Trendspotting: Innovative thinking, green offices and growing food

Elmia Garden presents the garden trends for 2017: Green in the Garden, The Green Lab and Vego Garden. Next year we will continue to see garden elements featured in interior decorating and fashions, in the kitchen and food preparation, on the balcony and at nursery schools.

“At Blomsterfrämjandet in 2017 we will be working a lot with balcony inspiration and seasonal plants in window boxes,” comments Malin Hidesäter, project manager at the Swedish industry organisation Blomsterfrämjandet, who helped to interpret the trends during the fair.

Large and small growing spaces
The Green in the Garden trend welcomes everyone, whatever their gardening interest and prior knowledge, to surround themselves with plants. Having spaces to grow plants on balconies, office walls and in bohemian outdoor kitchens has become the height of fashion, preferably combined with light-coloured natural materials and enamelled surfaces.

“More people are growing plants today because it’s become easier,” says Henrik Landén, project manager of Elmia Garden. “The market is offering smart solutions and products that help us to grow plants easily, so that even people who don’t have a green thumb can succeed.”

After developing an interest in gardening, many people want to take it to the next level, and it has become increasingly popular to take cuttings and grow hybrids. In 2017 we will also see more garden tourism and green excursion destinations.

Innovations and futurism The Green Labpresented innovative thinking about environmental issues and function, for example how we can reduce food waste in future and which hybrids contain the most nutrients. At Elmia Garden 2016 visitors could see such things as flowers that change colour and plants that were once impossible to grow in our climate. The focus on function was clearly shown by the worm-based fertilising products exhibited in a number of places at the fair.

“In The Green Lab we’ve raised the bar a bit and highlighted more unusual varieties,” Hidesäter says. “Foliage is wonderful to work with. I’ve always liked using flowers in unusual ways, for example using potted plants as cut flowers. With this trend people have more knowledge and it’s therefore more natural for them to give their plants more care and attention.”

Vegetarian winds The third trend, Vego Garden, is focusing people’s longing for organic, healthy and locally grown food, preferably from our own gardens. Meat on the grill is getting competition from vegetarian barbecues, and small-scale kitchen gardens are becoming a standard solution for many Swedish kitchen suppliers. Products containing raw materials from insects have been launched on the market.

“Kale and marigold are upstarts that we’ll see more of in 2017,” Hidesäter continues. “Tomatoes are so easy and so tasty – you don’t need to grow them from seed if you’re new to gardening, you can buy a plant. And herbs are always a good choice. For example, you can switch from the normal basil to the more unusual olive herb.”