Gardening and Plant Care: 2021 Trends & Outlook

The new year came with much promise but left questions unanswered about the COVID vaccine, virus variants, and more. However, we’re inspired that gardening is a bright spot in the midst of this uncertainty.

As National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman so beautifully put it, “And so we lift up our gazes not to what stands between us but what stands before us.” 

And we are optimistic about the year ahead!

We sat down with PlantTAGG Founder & CEO Andrew Levi to talk about gardening, how it’s evolved, and what we can expect in 2021. Here’s what he had to say.

 

Q: Looking back at 2020, how would you say gardening has evolved? 

Gardening was undoubtedly a bright spot in 2020. I believe it will be regarded as the year gardening became a mainstream hobby for people of all ages. 

With the pandemic in full swing, people began to prioritize health and family over just about anything else. And gardening checks the boxes on many of those areas. It offers physical benefits of movement and being outside getting vitamin D. And it provides psychological elements of joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Q: What did 2020 look like for PlantTAGG? 

For PlantTAGG, 2020 was a tremendous year of growth. We officially launched the platform with several of our gardening partners. And we secured our spot as the most technically advanced app that helps people succeed at residential gardening.

More than 1,000 users are now on the PlantTAGG platform, representing yards across the entire country. Those users are incredibly engaged with PlantTAGG’s unique capabilities. Some of the most popular ones are the personalized care tasks, companion planting, and plant identification.

We launched our Garden Center program and helped top IGCs like Ruibal’s Plants and Shades of Green grow their businesses. Despite the pandemic, we participated in several safe, onsite events, including the UPlantIt pick-up with Texas AgriLife and Texas Nursery and Landscape Association. 

And we continued to expand the PlantTAGG capabilities – including our PlantTAGG Plant ID feature.

 

Q: And for your garden center partners? 

Garden centers had one of (if not THE) best years ever. And given the inherent safer nature of being outside, the garden center was the place to go when many other places were closed.

We love working with our garden center partners. PlantTAGG helps IGCs connect directly and personally with customers through a branded plant care experience. Some of the programs help drive retail foot traffic, and some leverage in-store events to promote new offerings and repeat business. Additionally, we put our IGC partners in the trusted advisor seat with our ‘Ask an Expert’ feature, and they love it. They see the benefits of PlantTAGG for their customers, and it’s reflected in their bottom lines.  

Q: Looking forward, what does 2021 look like for gardening and PlantTAGG? 

It will take time for things to get back to “normal” — whatever our new normal may be. I believe we’ll continue to see a focus on home improvement, including outdoor areas and gardens. 

We see strong demand for ways to expand outdoor living spaces. We’re all spending more time at home, and we want to extend the four walls. We see people setting up new PlantTAGG zones on a patio filled with beautiful containers. And we see full-on outdoor kitchens and living areas with greenhouses that rival commercial farms. And just about everything in between.

Some want to beautify their space and bring in pops of color with new flower gardens. Some want to change existing gardens to make them easier to maintain.

Butterfly gardens are trendy as people look for ways to entertain kids at home or bring out the kids at heart. 

Container gardening for both flowers and vegetables are very popular right now as a great way to enhance an area without as much commitment to space, time, or other resources. 

Vegetable gardening – indoor and out – is one of the fastest-growing areas as people look to incorporate more organic, wholesome fruits and vegetables into their diets.

These trends are very positive for PlantTAGG and our community. And that’s something we can feel good about as we move into 2021. We have several exciting announcements in the coming months that I can’t wait to share. New capabilities, programs and partnerships that will be a huge benefit to the gardening community as a whole. While 2020 was undoubtedly a transformative year for gardening and PlantTAGG, we’re excited about the year ahead.