MENUIf you’re still undecided about landscape plans for 2018, here are some ideas from the industry’s annual surveys. Each year, landscape and gardening magazines ask landscape designers what customers are asking for this year.
Smaller gardens top this year’s list of trends. That’s because more and more people are opting for smaller homes on smaller lots. The benefits include less maintenance and cost savings that can then be invested in higher quality products. Smaller landscapes also allow a sense of enclosure to be created. This, too, is on the lists of trends I reviewed.The tranquility of water features continues to be popular, as does the outdoor living concept. One magazine even showed an example of an outdoor eating area in the middle of the landscape, quite some distance from the house. The living space becomes part of the landscape, rather than the landscape simply being a view from the patio.There is also a trend towards trying new things, including growing unusual edibles.Imperfect gardening may be one of this year’s hottest trends. This even has a name – Wabi-Sabi. It’s said to be a Japanese term for the appreciation of nature’s imperfections.Imperfect landscapes are more natural than formal landscapes. As humans, we have always sought order in our lives, and that spilled over into our landscaping. Mother Nature, on the other hand, prefers a more informal, almost spontaneous approach to her landscape, which we call wild.Today, we have a large group of baby boomers who are finding it physically difficult to maintain the formality they’ve been used to. On the other end of the spectrum, we have millennials who have other interests and commitments, leaving no time to maintain the traditional formality. So, each group is looking to Mother Nature for help and her answer is, “Embrace imperfection.”For assistance in designing the transformation from formal to informal, and the installation and maintenance of the designers’ creation, turn to our professionals. To them, imperfection is perfection.
