Garden trends I’m loving right now
Lockdown challenged our outdoor spaces. It has encouraged people to look at their outdoor areas a lot more instinctively and ask how can we make it more practical and more useable. And as a result, many people’s gardens will emerge from the pandemic transformed, valuing every centimetre available. Think outdoor kitchens and pavilion entertaining, fire pits, integrated seating, paving updates. Ooooh these things get my heart racing.
Here are some of my favourite and most popular landscaping trends for 2021 and beyond.
Image of actor Patrick Dempsey’s outdoor garden by Scott Shrader Photo: Roger Davies.
Less lawn and more garden
Homeowners want gardens with less maintenance. The aim is to embrace plants within the landscape, not just use them as borders along the fence line or around the lawn.People actually want that now and see the value in it whereas 10 years ago people would ask for minimal plants and a really large lawn.
Image via Three Birds Renovations
Outdoor kitchens and alfresco entertaining
Image via Three Birds Renovations
We’re now seeing the demand for fully-fledged outdoor kitchens that open completely to the outdoors. Spaces that encourage dinners to spill onto the terrace in good weather and linger longer. And to make them that much more appealing, outdoor spaces have décor and lighting that actually wouldn’t be out of place indoors. It’s about covered cooking areas with built-in grills, range hoods, sinks, and fire pits with comfortable seating and dining areas to make it easier to relax or to work outside.
Extending the indoors outdoors
Backyards are becoming the new living rooms, and according to Love The Garden, the inside outside garden trend is all about creating flow from your inside space to your outdoor space. The garden should feel like an extension of the home, so your interior and exterior design must work in harmony.
To achieve this sense of flow, choose plants that work both indoors and out such as, ferns, potted palms, peace lily, and succulents. Vertical gardens are another great way to blur the line between indoors and out.
Image via Three Birds Renovations
Raised Garden Beds
Image via Studio McGee
2020 has seen many people try their hand at growing their own vegetables and herbs, so it's no surprise that searches for raised garden beds have increased. You can start a raised garden almost anywhere: on top of a concrete slab, in a corner of the garden, or even on an old kitchen trolley - as long as it's in a place that gets plenty of sunlight, you're good to go!
If you're building your own raised vegetable garden bed from timber, just ensure that the type of wood you select hasn't been treated with toxic chemicals.
Crazy Paving
Image via Homes to Love
Also known as random stone paving, this design feature is making a comeback in a big way, but probably not as we remember it. There’s new exciting materials with grey, almost granite-looking random stone, and those grey colours work really well with concrete and timber. Random paving in natural stone makes a strong visual impact when paired with natural timbers and a smooth-finished concrete, creating a textured, clean and contemporary look.
Want more garden inspo? Check out my Pinterest board HERE.