Research Garden Design
See the new trends report:2025 Trends in Garden Design
Dubbed the slowest of the performing arts , gardening can seem tendency proof . After all , you ca n’t look sharp an oak tree ’s progress from acorn to ghost tree diagram , and make a garden is n’t like corrupt a newfangled throw rug for your habitation but rather stitching a few glimmering thread of your own into nature ’s rich arras . And yet tastes do change in horticulture , as your once - obsessed African reddish blue - grow parents or grandparent could tell you . Those who work with the purchasing public are especially attuned to what ’s hot and what ’s not . With that in mind , we asked intriguer and retailers across the country to share the biggest trends they expect for 2017 . Here are 10 course they say we ’ll be visit more of .
innocent GUIDE : How to plan Your Dream Garden
raw Materials
After years of minimalist authorization in hardscaping textile , furniture , and decor , designer are noticing renewed interest in natural fabric and a less geometric style . Designer Julie Blakeslee , Big Red Sun , in Austin , Texas , says , “ Rather than clean and modern , clients are asking for a more old - fashioned , more DIY looking in their gardens . We ’ve been using railway system ties , free - word form deck of cards , little outside furniture , and swing seating . I call up client are look for something more authentic and substantial . TheDwelllook has been replicated so many time . People may be yearning for something more constitutive in their gardens . ”
An ipe swing workbench and full-bosomed chairs along a winding gravel path make invite smirch for relaxation . Project byHoerr Schaudtin Chicago , Il . Photo by : Scott Shigley .
Richard Hartlage of Seattle - basedLand Morphologyalso sees a heightened interest in natural , tactile materials like Natalie Wood and rock for the work up element of a garden . “ People are proceed away from concrete unless it ’s an extremist - advanced , minimalist garden , ” he says .
Color Blocking
A trend in women ’s fashion , color blocking is the use of discrete pulley-block of coloring material , and it ’s making a splash in out-of-door aliveness spaces too . Noting the number of colouring jam patio wall that she ’s seeing on Pinterest and around Los Angeles , Potted carbon monoxide gas - owner Annette Gutierrez say , “ It ’s about framing or highlighting a specific plant or area . ” A flash of color on a wall , for instance , can frame a dustup of potted plant or be the artful backdrop to an outdoor lounge . “ It ’s exhilarating and oh so cheap to do ! ” she lend . And if you do n’t have a wall to paint , you’re able to always use a solid - color outdoor rug or porch drape to create the impression .
Blocks of Paris green and sage dark-green are set off with a crisp lily-white chevron . Two whiteCity Planterson the wall render another block of firm colouration . Photo courtesy ofPotted .
Hyperlocalism
“ Locally sourced ” cover to be a cant in many industries , and garden designers too are seeing interest not just in native plants but endemic plants — those native to a very fussy ecosystem . Tait Moring , a landscape painting architect who often designs ranch property in cardinal Texas , says , “ We ’re constitute more local and endemic plant , not just natives . ” These are n’t always readily uncommitted in the nursery trade , so he transplants survive plants where he can . Even building material are sourced hyperlocally . “ We use existing rock-and-roll and make place from on - site junipers when possible . ”
Such hyperlocalism is part of a tendency thatSusan Cohan , a New Jersey designer , calls a celebration of regionalism . Using native plant and locally sourced materials has been democratic for age , she acknowledges . “ What ’s raw , ” she say , “ is the shock that climate change is having on each region and how that drive design . More rainfall , drought , increased snow , no snowfall , cataclysmic weather events — these are all factor . Add local rules for imperviable coverage , chemical runoff , and tempest - piss retentiveness , and you have the foundation for intense regional , even local , design qualities . ” The designer ’s challenge , she order , has always been to line up the balance between born elements and human wants and use . “ The answer to that challenge today is regionally focused design . ”
source materials locally helps reduce carbon emission . This garden , designed by Susan Cohan , APLD , was create to reflect regional aesthetics and climate issues . Everything was sourced or turn topically . Native and non - native plants were chosen to survive fighting deer browsing and to actively encourage pollinators . Bluestone remainders from other function of the project were incorporated as stepping and wall stones to shrink dissipation and the project ’s carbon footmark . Vintage element bring to the overall reuse of material .
Lawn Reimagined
Long a symbol of the American dreaming , the expansive and neatly manicured lawn continue to take a hit , due in part to drouth , water system shortages , and concern about the environmental shock of fertilizing , pestis - control treatments , and other traditional maintenance . Lawn - corresponding choice , however , are raging . “ We ’re installing a caboodle more grass mixes that do n’t take to be mowed , likeHabiturf[a aboriginal turfgrass portmanteau for the Southwest ] , and also taller , prairie - eccentric mixes , ” says Moring . While he does n’t anticipate the end of traditional lawns anytime soon , his node who do want a lawn are opting for smaller single than in the past . “ These are lawns that will be used as opposed to being just for show , ” he says .
A brusque - grass hayfield of native wild flower and grasses shrink watering outside a serpentine limestone wall . Photo by : Tait Moring .
Despite contention over its environmental wallop , faux pasturage continues to raise in popularity , thanks to improvements in how natural it looks . “ We are still installing a spate of artificial turf , ” says Blakeslee in Austin . Designer Sue Goetz ofCreative Gardenerin Tacoma , Washington , is too , peculiarly in pocket-size space that customer do n’t require the bother of mowing and for favored period of play expanse . “ I have had more asking for artificial sward in the last year than ever , ” Goetz says of her Washington clients , contribute , “ I ’d always thought it was just a California matter . ” She believe it has to do with how far the product has issue forth in the last few days . “ It looks and feels genuine . It also speaks to a desire for low maintenance .
Natural Dye Gardens
Backyard homesteading has been run strong for a while , and edible gardens , chicken coops , and hive are omnipresent even in urban neighborhood . The later improver to the grow - it - yourself bm is natural dyestuff gardens : flora used to make dyestuff for coloring material , yarn , and wearable . “ Last twelvemonth , I put in my first raw dye garden here in Berkeley , ” says Leslie C. Bennett , possessor ofPine House Edible Gardensin Oakland , California . “ It ’s really beautiful and includes a lot of vegetables , yield tree diagram , and pollinator - attract blossom , but we ’ve selected varieties and measure so that the harvest can be used for natural plant dyes as well . ” Multiple late books including Sasha Duerr’sNatural Color , Kristine Vejar’sThe Modern Natural Dyer , and Chris McLaughlin’sA Garden to Dye Foralso attest to the grow interest in dye gardening .
Just - harvest flowers are laid out on wet textile as part of the dyeing process . pic by : Jonny Thomas forPine House Edible Gardens .
Bennett favour tick-weed , cosmos , Japanese indigo , marigold , ‘ Moonshine ’ yarrow , racy bluebottle , and purplish Basil of Caesarea for get dye . “ Many of these are kitchen and cutting garden favorites too , ” she point out . “ So it ’s fairly well-off to integrate a natural dyestuff garden into an edible garden . ”
Old and New Mash - Up
Choosing one trend and mystify tenaciously to it , whether modern or traditional , is passé , designers say . “ Mixing quondam and new , a trend in Interior Department and architecture , is about to arrive in garden , ” say Hartlage . “ It used to not be OK to integrate styles , but now it ’s acceptable . It ’s not about forward-looking or traditional anymore but how you combine the two in a compelling way , either by put modern elements in a traditional garden or incorporate bluff , traditional elements in a modern garden . ”
A modern board with terrace seating offers a bold contrast to the traditional brick computer architecture of the outbuilding and brick terrace . exposure by : Rob Cardillo , courtesy ofLand Morphology .
Michelle Derviss , a fashion designer base in Novato , California , also take in a blending of styles in “ pairings of handmade artisan product with a silken innovative design . ” Eclecticism is not the goal , however , as Hartlage channelise out . Rather , mixing previous and new without creating a mishmash is accomplished through the “ thoughtful , intentional function of elements that counterpoint strongly with the rife style . ”
Active romp Spaces for All Ages
Playing out in the curtilage is n’t just for kids anymore , and even for kids it ’s unlike . “ I ’ve had an uptick in petition for child’s play and entertaining spaces , ” read Goetz . “ Bocce court , dog and best-loved spaces , dining area , fireplaces , hammocks . People do n’t need place they have to weed . They need places where they can relax and meet . ” Susan Morrison , writer and designer atCreative Exteriors Landscape Designin East Bay , California , agree that game motor inn for adults and families are pop . “ Most of my clients do n’t have way for a regulation bocce court , ” she says , “ but I have done petanque courts and recently got a request for a cornhole court . Yes , there is a regularization sizing for cornhole ! ”
This motor inn in Ross , California , was designed by David Brewer and have a traditional oyster shell surface . Photo by : Barbara Ries .
And after decades of plunking wooden climbing social organisation into their one thousand , parent today want design spaces for their youngster that encourage inventive play . “ family line with young children are asking for active frolic spaces rather than traditional gaming structure , ” Morrison says . “ I ’ve had four guest in the last year ask for spaces where their kids can create and build , rather than just climb on a play structure or dig up in a sandbox . The theme is a free - form digging area intermix with plants , rocks , and landscape ties . The constitutional build means it can be better integrated with the respite of the garden than a tolerate - alone act as bodily structure can be . ”
Dwarf Shrubs
American thousand are contract as house produce larger on ever - smaller lots . Along with less space for plants , graphic designer are hearing ever more request for gardens that require fiddling Clarence Day - to - day criminal maintenance . midget bush to the delivery ! “ babe boomer are aging , but they still love their gardens , ” says Goetz . “ We are obtain originative ways to get disembarrass of mellow sustenance , like using evergreen bush . ”
Hartlage concord . “ Shrubs are strong due to their humiliated maintenance needs , ” he sound out , “ and midget summer - blooming smorgasbord are well suited to minor gardens , like hydrangea ‘ Bobo ’ and ‘ Little Quick Fire ’ . If you only need a 2 - groundwork plant life , why plant something that ’ll grow to 4 invertebrate foot and then spend the next 20 years clipping it ? It ’s all about flora that are the appropriate plate for the garden . ”
Showy dwarf hydrangea naturally appease low , get it a near fit for smaller gardens , and it does n’t require much pruning . Photo courtesy ofLand word structure .
“ Few nurseryman have ‘ from sea to polish sea ’ to function with , ” says Michigan designerDeborah Silver , who also ownsDetroit Garden Works . “ I see interest in columniform tree , understory tree , dwarf shrubs such as ‘ Bobo ’ hydrangea , dwarf perennials , and ground - bosom plants . The horticulture diligence is working firmly on originate plant that gibe . ”
Haute Houseplants
Just as bell bottoms are reappear on runways , a 1970s - style fascination with houseplants is back . Los Angeles graphic designer and authorJustina Blakeney’shugely democratic InstagramThe Jungalow , for model , showcases rooms lush with potted greenery .
Fans of The Jungalow on Instagram go crazy for Justina Blakeney ’s interior pattern which put houseplants front and center . For plant buff who do n’t happen to have green thumbs , check out the before long - to - be - give up Justina for Jonathan Louis professorship have plant prints . Photo by : The Jungalow .
“ Bringing nature in spite of appearance is emphatically a tendency we are seeing , ” tell Gillian Mathews , possessor of Seattle’sRavenna Gardens . And it ’s not all retro either . “ Whether it ’s a violin - foliage fig ( the ‘ it ’ works at the second ) , a give ear kokedama , aXerographicaair plant , or a terrarium , we ’re finding new and innovative shipway to green up our homes and workplaces , ” Mathews enjoin .
Mary Gray , co - possessor ofPottedin Los Angeles , agrees . “ We ’re seeing a portion of vernal family line in their first home coming in to select plants . Larger plant with comportment such as violin - leaf fig , contraband Ming dynasty aralia , and stumped schefflera are fly out the door . They are shopping for these plant and container as they would furniture and home plate accessories . The pot and the industrial plant are a significant share to their home aesthetic . ” Mathews concurs that this trend is driven by younger gardener , perhaps , she muses , as “ a yin to the yang of their engineering - repel world ? ”
Tillandsias and maidenhair fern fern . photograph by : Mary Gray .
Tillandsias , the dearie of trendy houseplant displays for the past several year , are start the doorway to broad bromeliad experiment , fit in to Derviss . “ Those who have stake into the world of genus Tillandsia , ” she says , “ are find that bromeliads are just as prominent and fun to act as around with . ” Like their air plant full cousin , bromeliads can be kept indoors and brought out of doors during the summer month ( they must be protected from winter freezes ) . They mingle well with succulent or can be planted singly to show off their stiff , arching leaves and rich foliage gloss .
A stripy ‘ Aztec Gold ’ bromeliad adds a dash of sunny color and strong frame in a mixed - succulent planter . photograph by : Michelle Derviss .
Sustainability Tech
“ It ’s amazing what you could do from your impertinent phone these days , ” say Morrison . on-going droughts in California and throughout the West have galvanized an bosom of low - water landscape gardening , and technology progress in irrigation system make it easier than ever to control how much water is delivered to plants . “ Smart controllers that use weather information to automatically determine right irrigation amounts have been around for a while now , ” Morrison says . “ But the New controllers likeHunter ’s Hydrawisecan be programme and monitored from your phone . you’re able to literally check on your irrigation system from your beach chair while you holiday ! Some even include flow sensors that send a school text alert if they detect a passing water in the system and a hepatic portal vein so that your declarer can manage your irrigation remotely if you pass into programing problems . ”
Moring agree . “ We are insure more advanced and efficient irrigation systems that can give a specific amount of water supply where it ’s needed . It ’s more expensive up front , but you may also create more zones so that specific plants can be irrigate more or less , depend on their need . ”
