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Whether you just bought a new house or are looking to jazz up your current one with a new aesthetic, there are plenty of new landscaping and gardening trends to incorporate into your plan. You don’t have to commit all of your savings to your project, either, there are inexpensive landscaping ideas that will liven up your yard without draining your bank account. Rather than focusing on the most high-end options, consider your own personal goals and what trends match your design taste.
Do you want your backyard to be a relaxing oasis or are you trying to make your front porch the social destination of the neighborhood? There’s a landscaping style and garden design for everyone, but consider the entire picture before you start tearing up the grass or building a firepit; landscaping is a year-round commitment. Mix and match these trends and follow our tips to make your outdoor space the best fit for you.
1. Less Lawn Is More
Rather than a wide expanse of green grass, many landscaping trends this year are predicated on the idea that less lawn gives you the freedom to do more—more ground cover plants and more furniture or even the possibility to put in a swimming pool or build a deck.
Potted plants are becoming more popular outdoors in place of a large lawn or even flower beds. It’s easier to control the size of the plants and, therefore, plan other features you want to include. Even home gardeners can show off their green thumb, even without private outdoor space available to them with potted houseplants, which became especially popular in the beginning of the pandemic.
2. Gardening Vertically
A vertical garden isn’t the best option for homeowners looking to limit their lawn area, but it’s an excellent one for people looking for landscaping and gardening solutions for a small space. There are both indoor and outdoor vertical garden options, from high-end growing systems to DIY solutions. Before you start a vertical garden make a plan for the structure and the plants as it can be difficult to switch these things once growth starts.
3. Eco-Friendly Practices
When styling their own immediate environment, many people are considering the environment as a whole and are committing to eco-friendly landscaping and gardening trends. Sustainability has been a rising trend for years and a survey conducted by OnePoll found that the Covid-19 pandemic inspired 64% of Americans to live more sustainably.
There are many tips for creating a more eco-friendly yard. Newer trends include composting to avoid food waste; on-site collection of rainwater to water the lawn, the garden itself or even to do household chores, wash cars or fill a swimming pool. Dedicating some space specifically to be pollinator-friendly, which can provide a safe haven for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. Including features to help fight climate change will continue to gain popularity and can be added over the seasons.
4. Simplicity
Landscaping doesn’t have to be complicated and gardening doesn’t have to be intricate for it to be wonderful. Simple, practical and easy landscaping looks are on-trend right now. Your yard is a figment of the wild and nature is naturally beautiful. There’s no shame in pursuing a low maintenance style and keeping the ongoing efforts to a minimum.
5. Xeriscaping
One combination of the trends of less lawn, eco-friendly practices and simplicity leads to a larger landscaping trend: xeriscaping. Xeriscaping is the practice of designing landscapes to reduce or eliminate the need for irrigation; while it is ideal for desert climates it can also be practiced in wetter locations.
This style of landscaping will require specific planning and even soil analysis to insure the climate you’re in and the plants you choose will suffice, but after getting this type of garden started, it’s very low maintenance and saves a lot of water.
6. Edible Efforts
Houseplants weren’t the only gardening trend to grow during the pandemic—tending to edible plants or entire vegetable gardens has also been trendy recently. Growing fruits and vegetables, herbs and edible flowers or even just propagating green onions in a water glass on the windowsill have become exponentially popular. Being able to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of your labor makes the gardening effort that much sweeter.
7. Outdoor Living
Tangential to landscaping is the growing trend of outdoor living. The increased amount of time spent at home in 2020 and 2021 led many people to improve their living space and our own front and backyards provided a place to which we could safely escape. Setting up a lounge area in the shade, building an outdoor kitchen or furnishing a sunroom or screened-in porch gives ample opportunities to expand your home and bring some inside perks outside.
8. Smart Home Tech
Also part of the trend of taking the indoors outdoors is the incorporation of smart home tech into landscaping. This includes everything from functional features like irrigation methods with smart controllers to fun features like smart speakers or lighting sensors.
9. Rest and Relaxation
When it wasn’t possible to take a vacation or escape to a spa during the pandemic our outdoor spaces became our places to get some R&R. This can be achieved with traditional methods like creating a zen garden or putting in a hot tub or by incorporating more modern trends like building an outdoor living space complete with smart tech for escapist entertainment.
10. Privacy
With this expansion of your home from the indoors to the outdoors, privacy is a premium. There are many ways to separate your yard from neighbors and passersby that don’t look tacky or out of place. A vertical garden can be used as a separating screen, low maintenance bushes can suffice for a hedge and a gazebo or pergola can put a more functional distance between you and the truly outside world. There are even decorative privacy screens to match any outdoor aesthetic.
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