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Some things are always changing. Some things are proven winners and endure for the long run. That leisure suit for men passed out of style. But I have a blue striped necktie I wore with one 45 years ago that I still wear occasionally. With the internal combustion engine, we moved on from mules and oxen. So let’s have a look at what this new landscape and garden season may bring us.

The preference for big open spaces—home floor plans or large green yards—seems to be in style. But the colors and styles of recent years seem to be changing from greys and blues to beiges and pinks. And there is an extra emphasis being placed on health and fitness.

The color of the year, as determined by the Pantone organization, is “fuzzy peach.” We are seeing this in the women’s aisle at the stores, and we’ll probably see it in the furniture stores and garden centers as the year wears on.

The trend towards more health and fitness is partly real and partly an excuse to create a more luxurious bathroom, get a kitchen upgrade, and create an outdoor oasis that may contain fire and water, as well as a spa or hot tub. Fancy grills and the thermometers and sensors that tell us if things are cooked (where is the skill of the cook or grill operator in that?) are sending old-fashioned grills to the landfills. On the other hand, if you have but one life to live and you can’t take money with you when your expiration date arrives, it’s easy to understand the reasoning behind some of these trends. 

Expanding on that thought, just as the Bible told us thousands of years ago, at the end of the age men put money in bags with holes in it. Inflation is the topic, even if that word didn’t exist back then. And when you put money in the bank or under the mattress (or into a bag)…there is less buying power when you go to take the money and buy something. Saving for things has become taboo, but credit accounts are still flying high. For the history buffs, the president took your gold and gave you paper dollars for it in 1933…then soon ‘devalued’ your paper money as it took much more of the paper to buy a dollar’s worth of real money.

Some things do seem pretty constant. Evergreen shrubbery or other trees and things that require little attention are most requested by homeowners looking for landscaping. “No maintenance” is the oft-used way the request is worded. (Such a thing doesn’t exist, of course.) And some things change, for instance, the color of this year’s most popular flowers and the new paint colors.

I just don’t fully comprehend quirks and peculiarities sometimes. Why do folks habitually buy big sacks of bird seed at pet stores or big boxes when they could spend money one time and plant things the birds would enjoy from year to year for decades to come in the yard?

Many box stores have set out spring displays a month sooner than normal. So long as the stock market is on an upward roll, the outlook for home and garden expenditures is bright. I expect businesses to have a good to excellent first half of the year.

Only the surface has been explored as we try and peek into a new season and visualize the possibilities. May your home and garden edge closer to paradise this year.  

The author is a landscaper. Feedback welcomed at www.rockcastles.net