herbs

Design Trends: Home Gardens

In Southern California, gardening is remarkably easier than in other climates. Most plants grow well throughout the temperate seasons. What we tend to lack are two things: time and space.

Gardening can often seem like a quaint past-time of bygone days, the providence of the over-fifty set, little old ladies hunched over with gloves and spade, weeding before shuffling off to their weekly lunch with the girls in their Red Hat group.

No more. Gardening has come back into fashion as surely as the movements to “go organic” and “eat local” have gathered steam. You can’t go more organic or more local than your own backyard. Just make sure to choose plants that are environmentally viable in this area.

SDedible.org has some great information on climate zones in our area, which can help you choose the best fruits and veggies to grow. Growing your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs can not only save you money at the grocery store, it’s a great way to educate children at a young age about how food is grown and where it comes from. Plus, most children are game to pull weeds and play around in the dirt.

Even if you don’t have space in your yard to devote to growing things, many plants and herbs can be grown in pots. You can also work with a raised garden bed, perfect for that empty corner of your patio. Vertical gardens are starting to catch on, too.

In the above infographic from the National Gardening Association, you can see a rundown of the most popular vegetables in the us, as well as an average return on investments for a home garden. While this information is few years outdated, we have seen a continued trend towards investments in home gardens, as our clients continue to not only sell homes with garden space, but to also seek out new homes with space for their green thumb.

This is a trend with staying power. Even if you’re more of a plant-killer than a green thumb, you can still get in on it. Herbs are among the most simple of plants to grow, requiring little more than occasional maintenance. And succulents can survive almost everything.

Gardening has additional health benefits, like providing moderate exercise and stress-relief.

The Master Gardeners of San Diego have a great guide to choosing the plants that are best for this region, when to plant them, and how to care for them.