The garden is an all-too-often underrated part of the home, but the right landscape design can turn any yard into a trendy outdoor living space that’s perfect for everything from family dinners to summer parties. While 2016 saw a rise in the popularity of contemporary garden design, in 2017, we’re seeing a reemergence of more classic concepts.
With the movement back towards self-sustainability and homesteading, you can expect to see more homes incorporating a rustic element to their gardens using these design trends.
Garden Design Trends 2017
Natural Materials
Instead of metals and concretes, in 2017 you can expect to see more gardens incorporating stone and wooden elements into the design. Free-form style is becoming more popular than geometric, contemporary garden design. Fences, furniture, and other decorative features for the garden blend into the scenery, taking advantage of natural landscaping to give your outdoor living space a more organic look.
Bold Accents
Instead of a muted color palette, as often found in minimalist and contemporary garden designs, in 2017 more homeowners are choosing to add more vibrant colors to their gardens. Instead of natural pastels and stains, bold accents and the use of color blocking contrast well against natural garden elements and highlight plants, sculptures, and other design features.
Edible Gardening
In previous years, the majority of home gardeners have chosen to decorate their landscape with aesthetics in the forefront of their minds. Attractive flowers, shrubs, and trees are still popular elements in many gardens, but some homeowners are choosing to combine looks with functionality by growing edible gardens.
Herbs, vegetables, and fruit plants can be used to decorate any garden with the added benefit of a delicious harvest once to several times per year.
Xeriscape Design
As more gardeners are becoming eco-conscious, sustainable xeriscape gardens are becoming a popular alternative to traditional landscape designs. Xeriscaping replaces grass with rocks and sand, creating a desert landscape that’s perfect for cacti, succulents, and other plants that don’t require much water.
Native plants such as wildflowers often thrive in sandy, dry soils as well. Xeriscape design is becoming particularly popular in regions affected by drought, as it helps to conserve water.
Container Gardening
Growing a garden in pots and flower beds is becoming more popular as homeowners are learning to plan designs around small homes and apartment spaces. While not all plants grow well in pots, there are both decorative and edible plants that gardeners can successfully plant in containers.
Plants can also be moved around throughout the year, allowing plants that are susceptible to frost to survive winters in northern regions.
