Summer blooms more every day. Lush gardens and landscaping seem more inviting and beg to be enjoyed. If you're thinking to yourself, "Yeah, the neighbor's yard looks great," nip those negative thoughts in the bud — no pun intended. This year residential and landscaping design is hugely popular (so it's not surprising you're gushing over the neighbor's lawn right now!). What are the residential garden and landscaping design trends for 2018? Glad you asked! Outdoor Living Spaces With beautiful greenery and beaming sunshine, it's no surprise people are gravitating toward outdoor living spaces. Why not enjoy the comforts of home outdoors? Spaces can be simple with paved or stone flooring or it can be intricate with a full kitchen, built in benches, planters, etc.
Pros
- Outdoor living spaces often times provide shelter and shade, making them perfect for more delicate or sensitive plants.
- Looking for low maintenance? Because of the large structural element to outdoor living spaces, daily or weekly maintenance isn't necessary!
- Much like you decorate your home, this space offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to décor. From wood to stone to recycled materials, textures and structures can be customized to suit your needs and wants.
- Cha-Ching! This project can be a little pricier than traditional landscaping with material costs and labor if you contract the build out.
- Space can be an issue when you're exploring options for outdoor living spaces. If you're working with a small yard, you may have to compromise some or all of your growing space to have the living space you want. That's not to say you can't still grow beautiful things — they just might not be in the ground!
Outdoor Recreation Amenities Pools and spas and games, oh my! If you're looking to share your beautiful space with friends, family, and neighbors outdoor recreation amenities might be just the thing to spice up your landscaping!
Pros
- Building entertainment into your design can save your greenery!
- Strategic positioning can prevent accidental damage from foot traffic or stray horse shoes.
- Yet another reason to play outside. As if you needed another reason.
- Outdoor recreation amenities add functionality to your landscaping.
- If you're going to be outside, why not enjoy your time with activities tailored to your interests.
Cons
- Much like an outdoor living space, integrating recreation amenities into your landscaping design can reduce space available for plant life.
- Despite great efforts, some wear and tear on your flowers, plants, and grass may still occur. You win some, you lose some.
Sustainable Design Practices We love the sustainability trend! And based on recent reports, so do all of you! Go green with a variety of sustainable landscape designs that respond to the environment and contribute to a healthy community!
Pros
- Sustainable landscapes require less water — something we all enjoy when the water bill comes! Not only do they require less water, some designs can actually clean the water and air.
- Continued maintenance is generally pretty easy! In fact, the workload decreases by roughly 68% once you're over the hump of setting things up.
- Waste? What waste? That's right, your sustainable landscape produces, on average, 65% less waste than your neighbor's regular yard. This can be attributed to the highly regenerative nature of sustainable designs.
- Initial cost, time, and effort are generally more intense when creating a sustainable landscape design than regular landscaping. It's definitely a "work hard now, reap the benefits later" sort of deal and that's probably the number one deterrent when it comes to sustainability.
- Hit the books! Sustainable landscaping means amping up your botany knowledge. The whole premise of sustainable landscaping is knowing what plant life works together to make a habitat system flow, so you may have to dust off the books and do a little research.
What are you waiting for? Your lawn is waiting to be pampered. If you have landscaping and outdoor living questions or just need more information on plant life, swing by Jolly Lane Greenhouse. We'd love to hear about your landscaping ideas this summer!