Top 5 Gardening Trends to Watch in 2025: What’s Growing This Year?
As gardening continues to evolve, 2025 is shaping up to be a year of exciting innovation and deeper connection to nature. Driven by a collective push toward sustainability, biodiversity, and self-sufficiency, today’s gardeners are embracing new methods, plant varieties, and design styles that not only beautify their spaces but also nourish ecosystems and communities.
Whether you're growing a backyard oasis, tending a small patio garden, or cultivating an indoor green space, understanding the latest gardening trends can help you plan smarter, create more resilient landscapes, and enjoy richer harvests. Let’s dive into the top gardening trends blooming in 2025!
Regenerative Gardening: Giving Back to the Earth
Gone are the days when gardening was simply about aesthetics. In 2025, regenerative gardening is taking center stage. This practice goes beyond sustainability — it's about actively improving soil health, increasing biodiversity, and restoring ecosystems.
This year, we’re practicing no-till gardening by using fabric grow bags instead of digging up the soil in our yard. In the past, we’ve used a method where we lay down cardboard to suppress weeds and then build up soil beds on top. It’s been a great way to reduce soil disruption and improve the health of our garden without relying on tilling.
We’re also committed to keeping our garden chemical-free. Instead of using pesticides or herbicides, we hand-pull weeds and use natural methods to maintain balance in our ecosystem. It's part of our larger goal to create a space that supports healthy soil, biodiversity, and natural pest control. Plus, we want to make sure our two cats, Sam & Carl, that walk the garden with us are safe too.
Regenerative gardeners focus on building living, resilient soil by incorporating compost, cover crops, mulch, and low-till or no-till methods. Plants are chosen not only for their beauty or yield but also for how they support pollinators, enrich the soil, and foster natural pest control. Techniques like companion planting — where different plants support each other’s growth — and planting native species that co-evolved with local wildlife are also key parts of the movement.
By choosing regenerative practices, gardeners are turning their backyards into thriving micro-habitats that help heal the planet one plot at a time.
**Above Photo is our backyard grow bag garden for 2025, where we’re growing Serrano peppers, tomatoes, collard greens, Swiss chard, and a variety of herbs, all set up in fabric grow bags for a sustainable and efficient gardening experience.**
Pollinator-Friendly Gardens: Saving the Bees (and Beyond)
Pollinators like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds are essential to a healthy environment — yet their populations continue to decline worldwide. In 2025, a major gardening focus is building safe havens for these creatures.
Creating a pollinator-friendly garden doesn’t require acres of land. With thoughtful plant selection and a few simple practices, even small yards, patios, or community spaces can become vital habitats for beneficial insects and birds. While we focus on native plants here in Royse City, Texas, and surrounding North Texas areas (Zone 8a), it’s important to research what’s native and best suited to your own region. Local plants are always the best choice, as they’ve evolved alongside your area’s pollinators.
For our region, native plants like Purple Coneflower, Black-Eyed Susan, and Texas Lantana not only attract pollinators but also thrive with minimal water and maintenance, making them ideal for this area. Pairing these with herbs like Dill, Basil, and Cilantro offers additional benefits. When allowed to flower, these herbs provide rich nectar for bees and butterflies while enhancing the flavor and beauty of your garden.
However, no matter where you live, there are many different types of pollinators you can attract to support a thriving garden. Here are some common ones to consider:
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Bees: Bees are by far the most important pollinators. There are many types of bees that play crucial roles in different ecosystems. Honeybees are widely known for their contribution to agriculture, while native bees like bumblebees and solitary bees are also key to pollination. Favorite plants for bees include sunflowers, lavender, and purple coneflower, as well as herbs like thyme and oregano.
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Butterflies: Butterflies are not just beautiful; they are also incredible pollinators. Common species like the Monarch, Swallowtail, and Painted Lady butterflies thrive on nectar-rich plants. Milkweed, Zinnia, and Marigold are particularly loved by butterflies. They also require specific plants for laying their eggs, such as Milkweed for Monarchs and Fennel for Swallowtails.
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Hummingbirds: These tiny birds are excellent pollinators, especially for tubular flowers that suit their long bills and hovering nature. Trumpet vines, Bee Balm, and Columbine are among their favorite plants. Hummingbirds are also attracted to brightly colored flowers, especially red and orange, and they love feeding from plants like Salvia and Fuchsia.
In addition to these well-known pollinators, there are also some lesser-known yet highly beneficial creatures that help in the garden:
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Moths: While moths aren’t often the first pollinators people think of, they play a crucial role in night-time pollination. Hummingbird moths and sphinx moths are excellent for pollinating evening-blooming flowers like Night-Blooming Jasmine and Tobacco Plants.
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Beetles: Certain beetles, including ladybugs, scarab beetles, and flower beetles, are also important pollinators. While they may not be as prominent as bees or butterflies, they help pollinate flowers, especially when foraging for nectar.
In our recent blog on creating pollinator-friendly gardens, we dive deeper into selecting the best native plants for our North Texas Area and share tips for boosting your garden with flowers and herbs that support local pollinators. By choosing the right plants and incorporating a few simple practices, you can turn your space into a lush ecosystem that supports pollinators, enhances your garden’s health, and boosts food production.
**The photo above is a close-up of our Thai Basil (also known as Cinnamon Basil) growing in the backyard. We let the plants flower to attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, who absolutely love the blooms.**
Vertical and Space-Saving Gardening: Grow Up, Not Out
As urbanization continues, gardeners are getting creative with how they use space. Vertical gardening — the art of growing upward instead of outward — is seeing explosive growth in 2025.
Living walls, trellised vegetables, hanging herb gardens, and vertical hydroponic towers make it possible to grow more food and flowers even in the tightest spaces. Balcony gardeners, in particular, are embracing vertical setups to maximize production.
We love vertical farming — in fact, when we lived in East Texas, we built a custom outdoor vertical tower system that grew us lots of Collard Greens and Zinnia flowers for the bees. Even now, in Royse City, we continue vertical gardening using pre-made tower systems, grow racks in a grow tent, and DIY Hydroponic DWC and Aeroponic systems to grow a variety of indoor peppers like Serranos and Habaneros, Herbs like basil, as well as leafy greens like Swiss Chard and Pak Choi.
We recently shared the build video and complete guide for our DIY Aeroponic System on Instagram, and it received over 4 million views. Soon, we’ll be sharing a series of videos for our DIY DWC system as well as updates on our peppers. It’s great because it’s all happening in a grow tent in our office, proving that even small spaces can yield incredible results.
We’re big fans of vertical gardening, and the versatility of this method is amazing — even Microgreens can be grown vertically. On our YouTube channel, we’ve also shared DIY grow system builds for NFT channels and Flood and Drain Systems to grow edible flowers and leafy greens vertically.
Smart technology is also playing a role. Modular grow systems with built-in watering and lighting help busy gardeners maintain lush gardens in small footprints, whether inside apartments or on compact patios. Vertical gardening doesn’t just save space; it also improves airflow, reduces disease spread, and creates stunning green focal points indoors and outdoors.
**Above photo shows the inside of our grow tent in the office, where we’re growing Habanero peppers using a DWC hydroponic system. The two yellow-top systems are DIY DWC setups, one growing Jalapenos and the other growing Fordhook Swiss chard.**
Microgreens: Nutrient-Rich and Easy to Grow
Microgreens are not just a passing trend in gardening; they're a highly nutritious option gaining popularity in 2025. These tiny greens, harvested at an early stage of growth, offer an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. From vibrant radishes to delicate pea shoots, microgreens provide concentrated flavors and nutrients in a small package. They’re packed with more nutrients per ounce than their mature counterparts, making them an excellent choice for anyone looking to boost their diet with minimal effort.
At On The Grow, we’ve been growing and experimenting with microgreens for years, and we’re proud to be one of the go-to sources for learning how to grow them. Whether you're just starting or looking to refine your technique, our content is focused on all things microgreens — from the basics to advanced experiments that we’ve tested in our own setup.
We grow hydroponically using trays and a reusable grow medium, allowing for a sustainable, mess-free growing experience. But we also share techniques for growing microgreens in soil and coco coir, giving you the flexibility to choose the method that works best for your space and needs. Microgreens can be grown in just about any small indoor space, making them perfect for apartment dwellers or anyone with limited outdoor room.
Microgreens are incredibly versatile — not only are they packed with flavor and nutrients, but they also make a great addition to salads, sandwiches, smoothies, or as a garnish for just about anything. Growing them at home ensures you always have fresh, nutrient-rich greens ready to go.
If you want to dive into growing microgreens, we’ve got plenty of content to guide you through every step, whether you’re using hydroponics, soil, or coco coir. Follow us on Instagram and watch our reels, enroll in our online Microgreen Masterclass Course, check out our Free PDF Downloads, watch us on YouTube, grab a copy of our book "Becoming a Microgreen Master", and read more of our blogs.
**The photo above is our microgreen grow rack, featuring two DIY aeroponic systems at the bottom. The microgreens are growing in 10x20 trays with our silicone reusable grow medium. Each tray is neatly organized and labeled with our tray clip labels.**
Edible Landscaping: Beauty You Can Eat
Why choose between beauty and function when you can have both? In 2025, edible landscaping is gaining momentum as gardeners embrace the idea of integrating fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers into their landscapes. Instead of traditional ornamental plants, homeowners are now incorporating colorful Swiss chard, climbing bean vines, blueberry bushes, and nasturtiums that provide both visual appeal and a delicious harvest.
At every home we’ve lived in, we’ve always loved planting fruit trees. It’s one of those things we find ourselves excited about, especially when we see the potential of turning more lawns into beautiful, productive spaces. We often find ourselves wishing that HOA rules would allow homeowners to replace their lawns with edible landscaping if they wanted to. We believe it would not only make neighborhoods more vibrant but also promote greater sustainability.
Perennial edibles like asparagus, artichokes, and fruit trees are especially popular, offering low-maintenance beauty year after year. The trend toward edible landscapes doesn’t just add a practical touch to your garden — it makes your space more sustainable, helping reduce grocery store reliance and boost food security.
It’s all about maximizing productivity from every corner of your garden. Whether it’s a balcony, a raised bed, or even your front yard, edible landscaping is a great way to grow both food and beauty in one. Plus, it’s incredibly satisfying to enjoy the harvest from your own garden, knowing that you’ve created something that benefits your health and the environment.
**Photo Above is a close-up photo that Mandi Vaughn took that shows a green onion flower in bloom, with its delicate white petals and green accents, adding beauty and function to the garden. This photo may not be used elsewhere without written consent.**
Bonus Trend: Smart Gardening Technology
Smart gardening tools are becoming increasingly accessible, helping even novice gardeners succeed. In 2025, more growers are using:
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Automated drip irrigation systems
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App-controlled hydroponic gardens
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Soil sensors that track moisture and nutrient levels
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Solar-powered garden lights and watering timers
We use simple timers for our indoor grow lights to ensure they’re on a consistent schedule, mimicking natural light cycles for optimal plant growth. We also rely on timers for certain grow systems, like our NFT, Flood and Drain, or Aeroponic systems to help with watering. And if you have an outdoor garden, you can even use timers for watering systems to make it easier to maintain consistent moisture levels without daily effort.
Technology is making it easier to monitor plant health, conserve resources, and maintain lush, productive gardens with less guesswork. Whether it’s a soil sensor that alerts your phone when it’s time to water, a compact grow room sensor, or simple timers to regulate your indoor and outdoor systems, these innovations are helping gardeners of all skill levels enjoy more success.
Final Thoughts
Gardening in 2025 is more than just a hobby — it’s a fulfilling blend of creativity, care, and resilience. Whether you're creating a pollinator-friendly garden, setting up a vertical herb wall in your kitchen, weaving edible plants into your landscaping, or growing microgreens, today’s gardening trends are all about cultivating a greener, healthier world.
At On The Grow, we’ve always viewed gardening as a way to connect with nature and nurture both ourselves and the planet. From our early days in East Texas with a simple vertical tower to embracing indoor gardening methods like hydroponics and aeroponics, our journey has been driven by sustainability, innovation, and a passion for inspiring others. Growing our own food — from peppers to leafy greens and microgreens — brings us joy, and we love sharing that experience. Every new plant and gardening system we explore brings us closer to creating a self-sufficient, resilient garden, while learning something new from the plants along the way.
Through our experiences, we hope to encourage you to dive into these trends and create a garden that nourishes your needs, supports your community, and benefits the planet. Whether you’re starting small with a vertical garden or jumping into hydroponics, we’re excited to be part of this growing movement, where the future of gardening looks bright.
No matter where or how you grow, there’s always something new to discover, and always room for another plant. Happy growing!
What’s your favorite gardening trend for 2025, and how are you incorporating it into your own garden? Share with us in the comments!