How to Avoid Fast Fashion Plants

You don’t have to be a gardening expert to make better choices. Here are a few practical steps:

• Buy from local, independent, or natural growers: These often work without harmful chemicals and grow plants that are adapted to real-life conditions. Ask where and how the plants were grown. Many sustainable growers are proud to share their methods.
• Look beyond perfect appearances: If the plants are identical in shape, size, and colour, and come in light, dry potting mix, they may be mass-produced under artificial conditions.
• Choose native and insect-friendly plants: These plants are lower in maintenance and help support biodiversity right in your backyard.

The Industry Is Beginning to Shift

While fast fashion plants still dominate the shelves, the tide is slowly turning, as leading retailers are beginning to change course. In the Netherlands, Intratuin, the country’s largest garden center chain, has committed to selling mostly pesticide-free plants, seeds, and bulbs by 2030. This marks a significant shift in an industry long reliant on conventional practices [4].

The transformation began after a Greenpeace report exposed widespread pesticide use . Initially met with denial, the report eventually triggered internal change [5]. Since then, Intratuin has phased out products like glyphosate-based weed killers and has replaced pesticides with natural pest control, such as ladybirds. More garden centers are now offering biological and native plants, and there’s growing consumer demand for greener alternatives.

Still, challenges remain. Fungal treatments are sometimes hard to replace, and chemical traces can drift in from nearby agriculture. The transition has also had financial consequences—Intratuin lost millions in revenue by removing non-sustainable products from its offering. Yet the company’s decision to prioritize long-term ecological value over short-term profit sets a powerful example for the rest of the sector [4].

The lesson: change is possible, even in an industry built on convenience and aesthetics—if companies have the courage to lead it.

Let Your Garden Be Part of the Solution

By choosing naturally grown, ecologically valuable plants, you are not only creating a beautiful outdoor space—you’re supporting soil health, insect life, carbon storage, and biodiversity.

Next time you visit a garden center, look beyond appearances. Ask questions. Choose wisely. Every plant you bring home is a chance to grow not just your garden, but a greener future.

No Garden? You Can Still Grow Something That Matters

Not everyone has the space to grow resilient plants in their own backyard—but you can still be part of the solution. Through our Agrecol Trees project, you can adopt a tree and support agroecological farmers in Bolivia working to restore degraded land, strengthen local food systems, and fight the climate crisis.

These trees are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, using consolidated agroecological practices. After three years, they begin producing fruit—providing not just climate resilience, but also a new source of income for the farmers who care for them.

Adopt a tree today and plant the roots of long-term change.

Cover image: Garden wall in Córdoba captured by Author in spring 2025

This article is part of the project “Quiz Ambientali per un Trentino Più Verde!” carried out by Econtrovertia APS and sponsored by Fondazione Cassa Rurale di Trento (Notice of Approval of December 20, 2024).