We know you love talking, reading, and writing about the hottest garden trends each year.

So, this year, we're handing the microphone to you! We want to hear directly from you how you're using the 2014 Garden Trends Report in your garden business.

We're hosting a contest to find a featured guest for our Talking Trends Google+ Hangout on February 20, 2014. If you're featured, you'll get the Garden Media red carpet treatment to get free press for your garden business!

Read on to learn how to enter Garden Media's contest and get press for your garden business!

If your gardening business wants to get more customers and build your brand, should you invest in public relations or advertising?

We get asked this question a lot at Garden Media Group since our clients come to us when they want to get people talking and asking for their product or service by name.

Read on to discover which will win in the battle of public relations vs. advertising for garden industry businesses.

January is the month to align your garden business's strategy with the major home, garden, and lifestyle trends of 2014.

Taking hold of 2014's garden trends gives your business a boost. Your customers are always on the lookout for the newest, hottest trend.

With Garden Media's 2014 just released Whitepaper, you can learn all about the 2014 garden trends in a short, comprehensive report packed full on numbers and research supporting the trends.

Using this whitepaper, your garden business can take the 2014 garden trends and implement these trends into your business.

To break it down further, below are Garden Media's 2014 Garden Trends in a nutshell.

The gardening industry is starting out 2014 on a strong note; this year has been dubbed the year of mindfulness. In fact, mindfulness is named one of the top ten trends that will shape the world this year.

People are growing weary of being constantly connected to their digital screens.

They want a way to detox, to unwind and rediscover peace, and this movement is spreading quickly.

Happiness is being redefined, and gardening fits into the mindfulness movement perfectly.

Read on to learn why and how mindfulness is shaping 2014, and how your garden business can take hold of this movement.

Welcome back y'all! Just like that the holiday season has come and gone, another year has passed and best of all, we're back in business.  

Is this the year you're going to make a marketing splash?  We have a lot to offer you and your garden business in 2014.

First off, Trending Thursday will be sticking around. Throughout November and December, the global consumer trends and lawn and garden industry trends were covered in a post each Thursday.

Starting next Thursday, a specific garden and home trend outlined in the 2014 Garden Trends Report will be delved deeper into each Trending Thursday.

Before we march forward, however, we wanted to take a second to recap the biggest garden consumer and industry trends.

We are officially signing off until the New Year! The Garden Media Team is SO incredibly grateful for your support all year-round.

We genuinely wish you, your family, and dearest friends the happiest holidays to date!

Drink lots of eggnog, laugh, and of course, enjoy and exude the generosity and kindness of the holiday season.

Until the New Year, happy holidays to all! And to all, a good garden!

As our economy evolves, cheaper prices and convenience are dominating the market.  Fewer mom and pop stores are able to survive, leaving room for the big-box stores and home improvement centers to move in. 

Just about everything we need in our daily lives is available for purchase at the local big-box chain--or on their online counterpart.  The convenience of getting everything at one destination rather than a few specialty shops mixed with the promise of low prices has customers drooling.

The gardening world isn’t exempt from this shift.  More and more people are turning to mass retailers for their gardening needs, according to the 2014 Garden Trends Report.

Continue reading to learn where gardeners are getting their supplies and how your garden business can join the trend in 2014.

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”

― Mark Twain

Have you heard that expression? (Actually coined by Nicolas Chamfort, it became attributed to Twain after his death.)

Origin aside, the quote refers to the act of ridding oneself of the most ghastly obstacle that is required first. By eating a ‘frog’ in the morning (i.e. doing the worst or hardest task first), you know that the rest of the day will be far better in comparison. 

By now, your garden business knows social media matters.

Though startling new social media research shows that how you think about social media may need to be updated.

You know who you are targeting on social media, what types of content to post, and when to update your page.

But do you know where social media ranks in terms of activity on the web?  Or how often LinkedIn gets a new member?

The following statistics may shock and surprise you, and make you rethink your garden businesses social media strategy for 2014.

From organic produce to reusable grocery bags, concern for the environment is having a BIG impact on countless aspects of life. 

Due to this eco-friendly emphasis, an interest in eating healthier, and efforts to reduce wasteful spending, the gardening world is getting a face lift!

The lawn and garden industry has become the third most profitable market, bringing in around $58 billion annually.  But it’s not stopping there! 

Garden Media predicts that this number will continue to steadily increase on a global scale.

One big reason gardening will continue to grow is due to the growing number of DIY gardeners. Below Garden Media dishes on how the DIY gardening trend will keep growing in 2014--and how your garden business can capitalize.