Pavilions, Fairies and Rock Fountains
February 25th, 2013
I can’t make any connection, but those three things seem to be shaping up as the hot trends in gardening this season if this past weekend’s Pa. Garden Expo is any indication.
GoldGlo Landscape’s Expo pavilion.
About half of the 13 Expo display gardens were showing off patios and outdoor kitchens under pavilions, like the kind you see in park picnic areas.
“Pavilions are really hot right now,” said Steven Stoltzfus of GoldGlo Landscapes of Millersburg, which was sporting a big, dark-wooded one in its first-time Expo feature garden. “They keep people protected from the environment.”
Protected as in you can still do your outdoor cookout or party even if it rains.
Most of the rest of the Expo gardens had more open pergolas as patio covers. Some had both pergolas and pavilions.
The message is that people apparently are interested in creating dedicated outdoor spaces that give them their own private little park.
I also saw a lot of columnar rock fountains with holes bored down the center and water bubbling out the tops.
These are usually displayed in triangular groupings of three over top of a pebble bed, which covers a pit that catches the falling water and pumps it back up through the rock fountains.
A rocl fountain display by The Greenskeeper.
Most are lit with clear or colored LED lights to make a beautiful patio centerpiece after dark.
Something else that showed up in three different display gardens – sandboxes incorporated into landscapes. That’s probably a nudge to young parents thinking about a landscape re-do. Hey, if you add a sandbox, it’s for the kids, right? That outdoor fireplace and bar is just to finish things off.
And several landscapers were highlighting drip-irrigation systems.
“It’s insurance for us and them,” said Eric Alleman of The Greenskeeper in Palmyra, referring to how automatic water can head off plant death when the new-plant owners overlook watering.
Fairy gardening keeps popping up as a hot topic wherever I go.
The Rosemary House had a variety of books and accessories, and Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill was selling a whole table full of miniature plants packaged specifically for fairyland.
“This is a big trend right now,” said Jodie Morris, SKH’s Linglestown store manager, who did a seminar on fairy gardening. “Some people are building them in the ground, and some people are doing them in containers.”
I’ll be writing more about this topic in a Patriot-News column this spring.
And finally, HGTV Curb Appeal host John Gidding closed out Expo with a bang by letting about 500 show-goers in on some secrets behind the show.
John Gidding speaking at Expo 2013.
For instance, a big factor in who gets selected for a makeover is who’s got a home where there’s space for Porta Potties, a Dumpster and all of the HGTV crew cars.
Or did you know that even though Gidding designs home landscaping, he’s never actually had a home of his own?
Check out details on his appearance in an article I just wrote for Pennlive: http://blog.pennlive.com/life/2013/02/curb_appeal_host_appeals_to_ex.html.
Now it’s off to see the Pa. Garden Show of York, the Pa. Home Show in Harrisburg and the granddaddy of them all, the Philadelphia International Flower Show…