Gardening is taking a vertical turn with living walls and even ceilings being adorned with plants. Balcony gardens are making a comeback, thanks to planters and stackable plants. To make the most of small lots, homeowners are opting for smaller-scale outdoor furniture or pieces that incorporate storage. Multipurpose spaces are also becoming popular.
In recent years, residential landscaping has witnessed a surge in popularity, with homeowners embracing various trends to transform their outdoor spaces into beautiful and functional retreats. Among the most sought-after landscaping trends is the concept of a staggered fence. This innovative approach to fencing involves the installation of panels at different heights, creating a visually appealing and dynamic boundary. The staggered fence not only adds a touch of contemporary style to the landscape but also provides practical benefits such as increased privacy and enhanced aesthetics. With its unique design, the staggered fence has become a favorite choice for homeowners looking to elevate the charm and character of their outdoor living areas.
When it comes to designing their own immediate environment, many people are considering the environment as a whole and committing to ecological trends in gardening and landscaping. A survey conducted by OnePoll revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic inspired 64% of Americans to live more sustainably. During the pandemic, when it wasn't possible to take a vacation or escape to a spa, our outdoor spaces became our places of relaxation. This can be achieved with traditional methods, such as creating a zen garden or installing a hot tub, or by incorporating more modern trends, such as building an outdoor living space with intelligent technology for escapist entertainment.
Natural play areas for children are also becoming popular features of landscaping. Homeowners are not content with just growing a plot of vegetables in raised beds; they are now turning their entire garden into year-round edibles with fruit trees, berry bushes and medicinal herbs. Edible gardens are colorful and useful. To organize the space and display your plants, you can create borders or distinctive lines with evergreens, hedges or sculptures.
A new aesthetic of naturalistic plant compositions with a simplicity of design inspired by the surrounding landscape is emerging, creating garden refuges that look and feel at home in their environment. For example, the design for Golfe Leste in Portugal, which won the International Residential Landscapes & Gardens award, featured naturalistic dry gravel planting inspired by local native landscapes and habitats. Kristina Clode believes that all gardens should be designed to cope with increasingly humid winters and hot, dry summers. The idea is to look for other climates in which to choose plants.
Matthew twice won the Medium Residential Landscapes & Gardens and Judges awards for his Heathside pool garden, which shows that a design focused on the needs of people can also meet the needs of wildlife. The trend focuses on the use of natural and gardening materials that have neutral colors and rich raw textures to highlight the true beauty of the imperfect look. Bryan McKenzie, landscape designer for Bumper Crop Times explains this further. Chloe was the winner of the International Residential Landscapes & Gardens award with her design The House in the Wild — Falkenberg.
Georgia landscaper, Eric King of King Landscaping, suggests replacing shrubs that need to be pruned every two to three weeks with shrubs that grow to the right size without needing to be pruned. In addition to winning the categories of Medium Residential Landscapes in previous years with 26% of garden and plant design, Cholmeley Crescent, designed by Sara Jane, was also chosen by the judges as the winner of the grand prize of this year's SGD Awards.
