Make Your Garden Feel More Sentimental With The Nostalgia Gardening Trend

From cluttercore and maximalist designs to incorporating vintage elements into your minimalistic home, the idea of decorating with unique and nostalgic pieces is trending with both designers and consumers. However, taking this vibe outdoors may be of more interest to you, especially if you like to garden. Nostalgia gardening is the idea of introducing flora and fauna elements that hold a special place in your heart. Definitions describe this aesthetic as incorporating flowers or plants that bring a certain scent to mind and using floral species you recognize from childhood. The parameters are vast, as it really comes down to what strikes a chord with you. It's all about finding various herbs, vegetables, and plants that give you all the nostalgic vibes so that your garden is even more personalized and unique to you.

By thinking back to any species you remember growing up, you can incorporate more nostalgia-based plant designs. Did you love playing with snap dragons, making their "mouths" bite or talk? Did you always go outside to the scent of lavender? Do you think of home or a friend's house whenever you see a certain color flower? These are all ways to incorporate this trend, but you can also embrace the gardening idea with accent pieces. Repurpose old gardening tools or add vintage-style garden decor to help bring the aesthetic through even more.

When it comes to the design of a nostalgia garden, anything goes. It's less symmetrical beds and perfectly trimmed bushes and more layered, free-flowing, whimsical garden areas. Just like a nostalgic interior design has a lived-in look with older-looking items that aren't perfectly matched, a nostalgia garden often has aged elements and a mix of plants to create a welcoming garden space.

Scent is one of the biggest triggers for memory, so a good place to start when it comes to nostalgia gardening is picking flowers or plants with a smell that reminds you of your younger days. Roses and gardenia are both very powerful and classic floral scents associated with everything from perfumes to candles and even vases filled with them around the house. You could also try jasmine, honeysuckle, or oleander, which are often found around neighborhoods and gardens. If you're not sure what scents you grew up around, try walking through a plant nursery for visual and scent clues about the flowers that were part of your younger years. Even if you're not an avid gardener, there are plenty of hacks that will give you a green thumb and help yours thrive, so you can bring those classic floral scents home with you.

It's not just florals that can bring a nostalgic scent, though. Fragrant herbs might take you back to your grandparents clipping leaves from their garden and cooking a meal for you. Plus, having herbs in your garden is beneficial — they are great for cooking, making oils, and even keeping bugs away while also providing a homestead or cottagecore aesthetic. These can be planted in herb boxes, in the ground, or in small pots around your garden or in the kitchen. Mint, basil, lavender, and a variety of other aromatic options will take you back to home-cooked meals or playing in the yard surrounded by those same plants. Fruits and vegetables are good for this trend, too, as they can connect people to their space and make it seem more grounded. 

The visual aspect of your nostalgic garden comes into play, too. What florals do you remember seeing all the time where you grew up? Which were the ones you picked and used as bouquets, or which plants did your grandparents, aunts, and uncles keep in the kitchen or dining room? What did your parents keep in their garden? Pansies are such an iconic flower, as are daisies and, of course, various types of roses, but maybe there were always sunflowers in a vase or growing outside, too. The bright colors and shapes of each bloom can help make you feel calm or take you back to a place of comfort, so plant these around your garden where you can see and enjoy them from windows or your deck.

Consider decor and accents when trying this trend, too. Watering cans, for example, are a very nostalgic item, and there are so many ways to repurpose an old watering can, including as garden ornamentation or to hold cut flowers. If you're not lucky enough to have a watering can that your family used, head to thrift or antique stores to look for options that are similar to what you remember. Wheel barrows turned into smaller beds for your plants can bring in the homestead or cottagecore vibes, while vine trellises are ideal for making your fences or the exterior of your home seem more classic and pulled from a simpler time. You can even replicate a garden trellis arch that you remember from your youth. There are so many ways to incorporate this trend into your garden, just let yourself get sentimental and build on that.