Gardening trends are a mixed bag – some seem to have made deep roots, like rewilding (making gardens more biodiverse), while others have been resigned to the garden waste bin, like “No Mow May”, which has seen a -33% decline in searches year-on-year.
Now we’re in the thick of winter, patiently waiting for spring to return to our gardens, our eyes are on what 2026 will bring to our green spaces. For insider insights into the next green-thumbed obsession, we spoke to Chris Cooper, lawn specialist from the experts behind Hayter petrol and battery lawn mowers – who’s spoken to countless gardeners over the last 12 months.
Bringing allotments home
“Allotments are in high demand – in fact, I can’t ever remember a time when allotments have been both this scarce and wanted by so many new and experienced gardeners alike,” says Cooper. “Two years ago, there were more than 150k people on waiting lists for allotments – and it seems like it’s only getting worse.
“You can see this online, too. Searches on Google for allotments have risen massively year-on-year, including ‘allotments to rent near me’ (+50%), ‘community allotment near me’ (+89%), ‘allotment garden near me’ (+91%), and so on,” Cooper explains.
“It looks like most have gotten bored of waiting and have instead taken fruit and veg growing back into their own hands, with a rise in searches for ‘home allotment’ (+40%), ‘winter vegetables to plant’ (+21%), ‘home vegetable garden’ (+22%), ‘best vegetables to grow at home’ (67%) and more.
“The allotment shortage certainly won’t see any big improvements into 2026, so expect this rise in home-growing fruit and veg to only get higher – with plenty more growing guides on TikTok and Instagram, something which we have already seen an influx of!”
Garden space-saving
“It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention, and believe it or not, this has massively influenced how we plan and landscape our gardens over the last few years,” Chris says. “Many newbuild owners have reported dissatisfaction with their garden size, alongside some gardens being noticeably longer than they are wide.
This has caused a big trend in ‘new build garden transformation’ videos, leading garden-savvy homeowners to record and share their tips for a stunning garden, regardless of size or shape limitations.
“I think we’ll see a huge rise in living walls, modular planters, trellises and other space-saving garden additions,” Chris predicts. “We’ve already seen them grow in popularity on socials, but more and more are starting to catch on to the efficiency and satisfying use of space-saving planters.”
(Adobe Stock)
Privacy garden hacks
“Garden privacy is a big concern for homeowners – people want to escape to their own slice of nature and they don’t want to feel watched with their morning cuppa,” says Chris, “which is another concern often related to overlooking gardens in newbuild estates, as raised by TikTokker Clairelm01.
“I predict we’ll see a big increase in tall, fast-growing hedges that add height to low fences, such as cherry laurel, bamboo and leylandii – as well as quick installations that protect from onlooking neighbours’ windows, like pergolas with climbing plants.
“Nobody wants to tempt a nosy neighbour, so any excuse to add more green or functionality to a garden whilst also improving privacy is a win-win in my book.”
Privacy Garden Hacks (Adobe Stock)
Battery lawn equipment
“As we’ve gotten further and further through 2025, we’ve noticed a huge uptick in interest by professionals and home users for battery lawn equipment – mowers, power tools, you name it,” says Chris. “That doesn’t mean petrol isn’t as popular as ever, but it is noticeable how more and more are looking at non-petrol alternatives for a variety of reasons.
“We’ve heard from many that grants awarded to small businesses for switching to green energy have been a factor, as well as a desire to avoid noise pollution laws and reduce vibration levels in handles, for health and safety reasons,” Chris continues. “Unless there’s a huge policy shift away from green energy in 2026, which there’s extremely little chance of, we can see more and more looking at battery-powered lawn tools.”
Credit: Hayter
Garden upcycling
“Garden upcycling was huge in 2020, and I think it’s going to make a massive comeback,” says Chris. “There are a few factors that play a part in this – the cost of living making new gardening items less affordable, the growing drive for sustainability and the push for fun activities for families away from screens, to name a few.
“I think we’ll see a rise in the transformations of used items, turning them into chic, rustic additions to the garden. Recently, I’ve seen DIY biodegradable seed pots made from newspaper, planters made from wheelbarrows, vegetable patches made from metal panels and more.
Garden Upcycling (Adobe Stock)
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