Happy New Year’s Eve GPODers!

2024 is officially coming to a close. As we give the final curtain call on this year there will be plenty of celebrating, but this is also an opportune time for reflecting and setting our goals for next year—including our goals and intentions for the next growing season.

Whether you’ve been gardening for decades or just digging into your plant passions, it’s always important to take stock of what went well this past year and what needs some more work. Did you finally get blooms on a plant that’s been reluctant to flower in previous years? Did you test a new pruning or fertilizing technique that proved to be something you should have tried ages ago? Or is there a part of your garden that needs a little help next spring? Did you have to say goodbye to a plant after many years of growth, and it’s time to researching the best possible replacement? To help inspire reflection (and potentially persuade some of you to submit your gardening goals for 2025), I’ve decide to share my garden resolutions for next year. And if you haven’t yet, go through some garden photos today and reminisce on what you and your plants have been through this year.

1. Give more attention to my indoor plants. I’ve enjoyed my ever-growing houseplant collection for several years now, but this is the first year I’ve felt a struggle to keep up. With lots of events, traveling, and just general life stresses, I found my indoor plants experiencing extended periods of neglect. Thankfully, as someone inclined to cacti and succulents, most of my plants can sail through this neglect and have survived a year of carer-induced drought. However, many are looking a little worse for wear because of it. Next year I’ll be making a better effort to give my indoor plants the attention they deserve. ‘Baby’s Necklace’ Crassula is one of my absolute favorite plants, my biggest regret this year is letting this beauty get to this sad state!

2. Get a better set up for my indoor plants. For a couple of years now all of my houseplants lived on a table in front of a window in my kitchen. While this certainly worked, it was not an ideal set up for me or my plants. 2025 is the year I’m finally investing some time and money into my growing set up. I’ve actually already made moves on this goal, getting rid of the old table. While they’re currently enjoying a vacation on the dining room table, this inconvenient spot is further encouragement to get my new plant shelves assembled ASAP.

3. Expand on the skills I’ve acquired in my vegetable garden. This year was the very first year I grew vegetables and herbs from seed, and I’m happy to report that it was a smashing success! However, anyone that tends a vegetable garden knows that a smashing success can also come with its own set of challenges. My seed starting was so successful that I found myself with far too many plants and a garden that quickly grew out of control. Paired with a busy year where I didn’t dedicate enough time to maintenance that I would have liked, and my harvests were not as bountiful as my early plant growth would have suggested. But this year of experience has really galvanized me to go in even stronger next year. Taking the knowledge I’ve acquired, I’ll be starting seeds again with more intention, far better planning, and more consistent maintenance.

4. Be more thrifty in my gardening habits. As I invest more and more time into my plant endeavors, it becomes more and more evident that I need to be frugal with my garden practices. Whether your garden is a small plot, a windowsill, or an expansive landscape, you can always find ways to dump a lot of money into this enriching hobby. Like all of you, I’ve spent my fair share on plants, pots, gadgets, etc. While I want to continue to grow and evolve my gardening practices, I need to start utilizing some more free and cheap techniques. I plan on experimenting more with propagating and collecting seeds. I’ve already had some success with propagating. This ‘Brasil’ Philodendron hederaceum was grown from a cutting gifted by a friend, and my mother was ready to trash this burro’s tail (Sedum morganianum) when I saved the last string and a few fallen leaves to bring it back to life.

5: Say goodbye to plants that just aren’t working. When we make New Years resolutions (inside and outside of the garden) it can be easy to rattle off all of the new things we’re going to get around to doing this year. It can be a little harder to pin-point the things that are no longer serving us and that we need to step away from. In order to accomplish all of the goals I listed above, it’s time to say goodbye to some plants that are taking time away from more fruitful endeavors. This mainly includes some houseplants that I’ve been barely keeping alive or continuously buying replacements of (determined that this is the one that I’m going to have success with). I’ve also decided to scrap starting herbs from seed this year, giving me more time to hone my skills with vegetables. The lithops above are an example of a plant I need to put on the back-burner for now. I had a pretty healthy bunch, and one by one they have either rotten or dried out and died. I know they aren’t getting enough light, evidence by them stretching well beyond the soil, but I also think my soil mix and pot choice were wrong. When I’ve gotten a better handle on my other plants, maybe I’ll get a new bunch and give these a go again.

BONUS: Continue to grow the GPOD community and encourage even more gardening discussion and camaraderie. In the additional time I hope to spend with my plants in 2025, I also hope to find some inspiration and ideas for continuing to inject new life into Garden Photo of the Day. I’m endlessly inspired by the gardeners (long-time contributors and new faces) that keep this blog alive. If you’ve been following GPOD for years or just discovered it in 2024, thank you so much for being here. I want even more gardeners to feel encouraged to share their plants in the new year.

Thank you for hearing out my 2024 gardening lessons, and the goals I’m taking into 2025. I hope some of these resonated with you, or that you’re feeling inspired to write your own 2025 garden goals. If you feel so inclined, share your goals with GPOD! Click ‘View Comments’ and login to comment your goals below, or follow the directions to submit your goals with photos of your 2024 garden.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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