A garden can be a significant source of value for modern homeowners. You might spend time outdoors alone, enjoying a sense of peace and tranquillity, exercising, or tending to a vegetable patch. You might invite friends over for a barbecue or to toast marshmallows around a fire pit. The possibilities are endless.
Getting the best from your garden space might mean shaping it to suit your tastes and preferences. This might mean going your own way and doing something entirely original. But for most would-be gardeners, it’s worth taking inspiration from what others are doing. Let’s take a look at a few modern trends in the world of gardening and see what ideas might be taken from them.
Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Design
Increasingly, gardeners are favouring designs that protect the natural environment, rather than simply paving over it. Areas of lawn might be allowed to grow wild and free, even if it’s just for a few weeks each year, rather than being severely manicured throughout the year.
Homeowners might also embrace the eco-friendly approach through the use of locally-sourced, natural materials, native plant varieties, and tightly-controlled irrigation systems. Foliage can be shaped and removed with the help of common tools like hedge trimmers and pruning shears – but maintaining a limited selection of high-quality tools tends to be more eco-friendly than amassing a large collection of cheap ones.
Outdoor Living Spaces: Extending the Home Outdoors
A rewarding garden tends to be one that you can easily step out into. Ideally, it should function as an extension of your living space, such that you barely perceive a divide between the two areas. Bespoke outdoor furniture, fire pits, outdoor kitchen areas, and the right seating can all make a huge difference. What fits your needs will tend to depend on your lifestyle and choices, so make sure that you think about how you’d use the space in reality, rather than what might look good in a catalogue or Pinterest post.
Statement Planting and Exotic Elements
Much like your interior design, you’ll want to plan your garden around a few key focal points. These might be particular eye-catching plants that really make a statement, and that demand little maintenance throughout the year. There are a number of plant species that are naturally eye-catching, and these should be positioned in prominent places, like entranceways, and near seating areas.
Technology and Smart Gardens
When most of us think of smart garden designs, we tend to think of the role played by technology. When it comes to luxury, having tight control of soil moisture and acidity, as well as the temperature in the greenhouse and the lighting on the patio, can be a godsend. You don’t have to invest a huge amount of time and energy into learning the right systems, especially if you’re already fairly tech-savvy. Just a few choice pieces of kit can make a significant difference to your enjoyment of the space!
