Using new website technology, the organisers of Glee, which opens at the NEC on Monday, have published their garden trend predictions for 2016.

Covering ten different aspects of gardening interests – from garden design, landscaping and planting to outdoor living, eating and garden gadgets – the forecasts tap into the views of the thousands of retail experts using Glee’s gleebirmingham.com site.

These are just two sets of their predictions:

Top Five Garden Care Products

1 Burgon & Ball - Poc-kit - keep all your valuables and essentials to hand and safe, while you garden in comfort.

2. Darlac - Telescopic Fruit Picker – never over-reach again with this sturdy and extendable picker.

3. Fiskars - PowerGear™ Lopper – part of the PowerGear™ range of cutting products, these loppers afford three times more cutting power thanks to the patented gear mechanism.

4. Baksaver Barrow - these high quality, durable wheelbarrows can be used with very little effort, where you don't need to lift to push or to tip.

5. Rellma Industry Co. - 14-1/3' Grass Shears – the two blades are individually developed to provide the best possible cut. The ergonomic handle allows for 360° degree cutting.

Top Five Garden Design Trends

1. Vertical Planting - Watex International Co. - Expandable Green Wall – the epitome of Chinese design, it has a built-in Irrigation system and can transform any vertical space into an eye-catching green wall.

2. Upcycled Ornamentation - Think Outside - EE-I-EE-I-O Planters – bringing its unique style of design all the way from Australia, the EE-I-EE-I-O planter range uses only re- and up-cycled materials to create its Clarence the Cow, Bruce the Bull, Billy the Goat and the Hound Dog planters.

3. Dutch Design Brings Clean Lines - IQbana – Vasaluce – made from Expanded PolyPropylene (EPP), the Vasaluce planter offers sleek lines and contemporary design alongside wider benefits – they’re extremely strong, shockproof, frost resistant and super-light.

4. Functional Garden Retreats - Zest 4 Leisure - Dorset Arbour – already an award-winning product, the Dorset Arbour takes garden retreats to the next level with handy in-built storage.

5 Colour Through Natural Stone - Deco-Pak – Decorative Aggregates – from paths to decorative pot topping, decorative aggregates can take any garden from drab to fab!