Happy New Year to GPOder!
2024 has officially come to an end. As we draw the curtain on this year, there will be many celebrations, but it is also a good time to reflect and set goals for next year – including our goals and intentions for the next growing season.
Whether you’ve been gardening for decades or you’re just discovering your passion for plants, it’s always important to evaluate what went well over the past year and what needs further improvement. Have plants that refused to bloom in previous years finally bloomed? Have you tested a new pruning or fertilizing technique that turned out to be one you should have tried a long time ago? Or is there a part of your garden that needs some help next spring? Have you had to say goodbye to a plant that has been growing for years and it’s time to research the best replacement? To help inspire reflection (and maybe convince some of you to submit your gardening goals for 2025), I decided to share my garden resolutions for next year. If you haven’t already, browse some garden photos today and reminisce about what you and your plants have experienced this year.
1. Pay more attention to my house plants. I’ve been enjoying my ever-growing collection of houseplants for a few years now, but this is the first time I’ve found it hard to keep up. With all the activities, travel, and general stresses of life, I find that my houseplants go through long stretches of neglect. Thankfully, as someone who loves cacti and succulents, most of my plants were able to weather this neglect and survive a year of caregiver-induced drought. However, many look worse for wear as a result. Next year I will be working harder to give my house plants the attention they deserve. “baby’s necklace” Sedum One of my favorite plants, my biggest regret this year is leaving this beauty in such a sad state!
2. Getting a better setup for my houseplants. For several years now, all of my houseplants have been growing on the table in front of my kitchen window. While this does work, it’s not an ideal setup for me or my plants. 2025 is the year I finally invest some time and money into growing my business. I have actually taken action towards this goal and got rid of the old desk. While they are currently enjoying the holidays on the dining room table, this inconvenience further encourages me to put together a new plant stand as soon as possible.
3. Expanding on the skills I gained in the vegetable garden. This is my first year growing vegetables and herbs from seed, and I’m happy to report that it’s been a huge success! However, anyone who has tended a vegetable garden knows that great success can also come with its own set of challenges. My seed starts were so successful that I found myself with too many plants and a garden that quickly got out of control. Coupled with a busy year, I didn’t devote enough time to the maintenance I wanted, and my harvest wasn’t as bountiful as my early plant growth suggested. But this year’s experience has definitely inspired me to be even stronger next year. With the knowledge I have gained, I will start planting seeds again with more intention, better planning, and more consistent maintenance.
4. My gardening habits are much more frugal. As I devote more and more time to growing plants, the need to be frugal in my garden practices becomes more and more apparent to me. Whether your garden is a small patch of land, a windowsill or a vast landscape, you can always find a way to put a lot of money into this enriching hobby. Like all of you, I spend my fair share on plants, pots, knick-knacks, etc. I plan to do more experiments with spreading and collecting seeds. I’ve had some success with advocacy. This “Brazil” Philodendron It was grown from a cutting given to me by a friend, and my mother was going to throw away the donkey’s tail (Sedum) when I saved the last rope and a few fallen leaves to bring it back to life.
5: Say goodbye to plants that don’t work. As we make our New Year’s resolutions (in and out of the garden), it’s easy to list all the new things we’re going to make time for this year. It can be a little difficult to identify those things that no longer serve us and that we need to step away from. In order to achieve all of the goals I listed above, it’s time to say goodbye to some of the plants that take away time from more productive endeavors. This mainly consists of a few houseplants that I barely maintain or keep buying replacements for (sure these are the plants I will have success with). I also decided to forego growing herbs from seed this year, giving me more time to hone my vegetable skills. The Lithops above is an example of a plant I need to put aside for now. I had a bunch of perfectly healthy ones, but they were either rotting or dry to death. I know they don’t get enough light and the evidence for them extends far beyond the soil, but I also think my soil combination and pot selection were wrong. When I get better at handling other plants, maybe I’ll buy a new bunch and try again.
bonus: Continue to grow the GPOD community and encourage more gardening discussions and friendships. During the extra time I hope to spend with my plants in 2025, I also hope to find some inspiration and ideas to continue breathing new life into them. Daily Garden Photos. I am constantly inspired by the gardeners (long time contributors and new faces) who keep this blog alive. If you’ve been following GPOD for years or just discovered it in 2024, thank you very much for being here. I hope more gardeners will be encouraged to share their plants in the new year.
Thank you for listening to my 2024 gardening lessons and my goals for 2025. If you like, please share your goals with GPOD! Click “View Comments” and log in to comment your goals below, or follow the instructions to submit your goals with a 2024 garden photo.
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To submit, please send 5-10 photos to [email protected] and some information about the plants in the photo and the location where the photo was taken. We’d love to hear about where you are, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you’re proud of, lessons you’ve learned from them, hopes for the future, favorite plants or interesting stories from your garden.
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