A bit like culture as a whole, gardening is taking a big step towards authenticity and expression in 2026.
This year, we’re heading into a time for overflowing borders, textured décor and tabletop vegetables, with social media no longer dictating how ‘perfect’ our gardens should look.
We are also seeing an ever-increasing shift towards sustainability and resilience in our planting, with many gardeners looking for perennials and hardy plants over annual flowers. Plus, Monty Don has blazed a new path with his dog-friendly garden at the 2025 RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
So, if you need inspiration for your garden this year, we’ve made a list of the best new and predicted trends. With the help of industry experts, this piece will give you nine top tips for how to stay ahead of the curve in 2026.
1. Embracing imperfection
One of the biggest takeaways to come from the Garden Media Group’s 2026 trends report is the concept of ‘Lemonading’ – which incidentally has nothing to do with citrus.
Lemonading is all about embracing the imperfection in your garden and not shying away from failure. When a patch of your hard work dies or doesn’t grow the way you’d hoped, instead of ripping it out from the roots and starting again, ask ‘What can I do with this?’ By embracing setbacks and seeing them as opportunities, we become much more in tune with the natural rhythms of our garden, and become much less attached to the so-called ‘perfect look’.
So, what does this actually look like? Lemonading can look like full, overflowing borders, mixing vegetables and flowers together in one bed, or letting your grass grow long. It can also mean scattering a handful of mixed seeds and seeing what happens, or, having plants that really show the season they’re in; think dogwood, a shrub whose delicate leaves fall off in winter but in turn puts on a show with its vibrant red stems.
2. Pet-friendly spaces
At the 2025 Chelsea Flower Show, Monty Don created his dog-friendly show garden. As expected, this has sparked a huge trend for more pet-focussed spaces, which is predicted to take off in 2026.
Diverse, hardy lawns are a key part of this, with a mixture of daisies, dandelions and clover ensuring your grass is sturdier and more resistant to dog mess. Non-toxic plants are also key, as well as calming smells like lavender. You should also make sure your garden has plenty of shade for your dog to rest in and soft textures for their paws, for instance, you could use creeping thyme as a groundcover between stones.
3. Muted, moodier colour palettes
While vibrancy will never really go out of style, there seems to be a slight shift towards the more muted colour palettes. Garden Media Group for instance has named ‘Faded Petal’ as their colour of the year, while others have zoomed in on clay and terracotta tones and inky purples like aubergine.
For this, you could try plants like heucheras, which can come in a range of muted tones like caramel and plum. Or, you can find dahlias with a mixture of mauve and soft peach colours.
4. Drought resilience
As our weather can now go from heavy rainstorms to long droughts (sometimes within weeks of each other), it’s not surprising that a huge emphasis continues to be placed on resilient plants. Gardeners are looking for shrubs and flowers that can survive anything the environment has to throw at them, preferably with little maintenance.
The RHS has suggested that drought- and heat-tolerant Rosa persica hybrids from central Asia will become popular, having already performed well at RHS Garden Wisley. Otherwise, drought-tolerant picks can include herbs such as lavender and rosemary, and perennials like yarrow and catmint, as well as succulents and ornamental grasses.
5. Taking indoor plants outside
Another response to the big changes in temperature we’ve been experiencing is to rebrand your house plant collection as ‘in and out plants.’
According to the RHS, tougher indoor plants, such as spider plants and tradescantia, are being moved to outdoor pots and hanging baskets, allowing them to enjoy our increasingly hot and dry summers.
6. Tabletop vegetables
Forget display flowers – the RHS reckons we’ll be swapping them for tabletop vegetable plants in 2026. Dwarf varieties of a range of vegetables are great for this, making plants small and decorative enough to complete your décor.
It’s suggested that nightshades such as aubergines, chillies, peppers and tomatoes will now be particularly popular for an indoor windowsill or outdoor patio table and should be able to produce enough to supplement your grocery shop, at least a little bit.
7. Authentic clutter
Personalisation and self-expression are definitely ‘in’ for 2026. Gardeners are looking for plants and accessories that reflect them, rather than having a neat, polished aesthetic.
As part of this, experts have suggested that buyers are looking for older, nostalgic items, like roughly made plant pots or woven willow that shows its age. We can also expect to see more textures like handmade clay, rusty furniture and gravel, all combining to give off a more cluttered and thrown-together look. Layer this up, and you’ll be embracing the idea of ‘clutter-core’.
