Looking for on-trend garden ideas to get set for warmer weather? Over recent years, our gardens have become extensions of our homes, offering a green space in which we can relax, play, cook, dine and even work. So, let’s look ahead and see what 2024 has in store for your outdoor living space. Whether you’ve got acres of land or a bijoux balcony, click or scroll on to discover the latest garden trends...
Creating a secret wild garden with a leafy backdrop, surrounded by billowing foliage is growing in popularity, with people moving away from classical, formal layouts and trimmed lawns. We’ll see gardens boasting an organic, overgrown look, where people can feel at one with nature, fully immersing themselves in this wild style. One bonus in achieving this trend is definitely much less maintenance to do!
Planting with our winged friends in mind is key this year with pollinating flowers a priority for keen gardeners country-wide. Bees play a critical role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem for the planet, and with 17 species of bees already extinct, the efforts needed to further encourage them to thrive couldn’t be greater. The team at George Davies Turf & Stone advise focusing on wildflower turf and pollinating flowers such as lavender, butterfly bushes, sunflowers and poppies to help bring more creatures and colour into your garden.
Scorching from the UK’s increasingly hot summers has made lawns tricky and more costly for people to manage. It’s no surprise then that we’re seeing homeowners transform their turf to larger flower beds and extended borders, with dedicated patio areas for seating. It allows for more considered planting, with wildlife-friendly varieties and patches of wild meadow, which in turn encourages more beautiful bugs and creatures into our gardens.
Dining outside is nothing new, but until now it’s been reserved to barbecues, with guests chomping down on ketchup-covered hot dogs and burgers. Now we’re seeing a shift to homeowners using their outdoor spaces for more stylish affairs, hosting dinner parties and special occasions. Dress your table as you would your indoor one, with gorgeous dinnerware, glasses and linens; and provide cushions for each guest. Choose foliage and flowers from your garden as a centrepiece and string festoon lights to keep things illuminated well into the evening.
You don’t actually need a swimming pool to rock this summery look, you just need a few key essentials in a mix of colours, with some nautical stripes thrown in. Start with a sun lounger, and dress with cushions, stripey towels and an outside rug to set the scene. Add in the all-important rubber ring, maybe some tropical decorations and of course a cocktail (or two!), and your garden will fast feel like your very own a permanent holiday destination!
Edible gardening is still very much a juicy topic, with amateur gardeners busy allotmenting, growing their veggies and herbs. Attention now is turning to berries with people incorporating wild fruits into their own outdoor spaces. Strawberries, blackberries and raspberries are all great options, but be sure to grow them in pots to avoid the bushes becoming unmanageable. After harvesting, enjoy freshly picked or turn into a delicious handmade jam.
Wild cottage gardens with big blousy blooms – roses, tulips, lupins, delphinium, dahlias and more – are showing no sign of wavering. This year, more and more people are starting to carve out dedicated planting areas for floral harvesting. Most cut flowers are sun-loving plants, so be sure to position in full sun and plant bulbs in rows to make wedding and harvesting easier. Plant a variety of seasonal flowers and you’ll have a steady supply of blooms to adorn your home all year long.
According to Johanna Elvidge, Head of Domestic Design at Marshalls, we’ll see more people transforming their gardens into playful, positive spaces for 2024, encouraging socialisation and time outside. “These gardens will likely centre around seating areas, outdoor kitchens and fire-pits,” says Johanna. “All spaces which will encourage home life to spill outdoors.” She says we’ll see people carving the garden into different zones: “Having areas for open-air cooking, areas designated for children to play in and an area of brightly coloured flowers to liven the space through nature itself.”
With attention turning to protecting wildlife with initiatives such as No Mow May taking off, we’ll see the slightly less manicured garden with wilder, overgrown verges and borders becoming more commonplace this year. By embracing this care-free approach, gardeners are improving the biodiversity of their outside space, supporting the livelihood of a range of wildlife. Hedgehog highways are growing in popularity, as well as bug hotels, bird houses, and small shelters.
2024 will see government legislation come into force, banning peat-based compost by the end of the year – driving a trend for creating your own compost at home. Peat is a brilliant fertiliser for home gardens but this comes at a cost to the environment. “Peat belongs in bogs, not bags,” says Alison Steadman, actor and ambassador for The Wildlife Trust. “Whenever a peatland is dug up a natural habitat is destroyed with appalling consequences for wildlife and our climate.” Expect to see more composts made from wood and horticultural by-products.
Our summers are getting hotter leading to an upturn in people searching for plants that require no irrigation. Xeriscaping, otherwise known as water-wise gardening, is the solution to our parched plants. “Dry gardens will have colour, scent, texture and flowers from resilient plants including ornamental grasses, bulbs such as alliums that sweat out summer heat below ground,” says Guy Barter, RHS Chief Horticulturist. “Waxy, hairy or small leaved plants that have evolved to resist water loss, such as Afghan sage, California lilac, Cistus, lambs ears, lavenders, hardy palms and succulents and rosemary and thyme, to name only a few.”
A key trend on the rise is people using their garden as an extension of their home, wanting to be outside from spring until winter. This means a surging need in furniture that is robust and functional. “Outdoor furniture design has evolved massively and we’re seeing designs being combined with state of the art materials,” says Reilly Grey, co-founder of Suns Lifestyle. Pieces are not only beautiful but are truly weather and rust resistant. “It’s all about creating that aspirational lounging space that is beautiful in the summer and cosy in the winter”
This is the newest buzzword being bandied about for 2024, all about channelling an other-worldly sci-fi feel, bringing digital elements alongside the quirky and unusual. Mark Lane, gardening expert for Stannah says we should expect to see bold, bright plants and accessories for our gardens. “Neon is set to be a big trend,” he says. “Orange, fuchsia and red will also play a role, alongside park pinks and purple.”
The appetite for exterior living continues to grow this year, with more of us desiring greater time spent in our gardens. In doing so, we’re creating dedicated outdoor ‘rooms’ where we can gather with friends or unwind on our own. Be that socialising around a firepit, lounging on a comfy modular sofa, dining al fresco style, or pizza making in an outdoor oven. Expect to see more garden spaces with all the essentials for outdoor living, arranged under purpose-built shelters, such as a pergola or an awning.
Our traditional green, neatly clipped lawns are making way for lush wild meadows. This dreamy low-maintenance lawn looks simply beautiful and provides an abundant haven for all creatures, great and small. According to the RHS, enquiries relating to wild gardening have soured by over 28% and are set to continue rising, making meadow lawns a growing trend this year. Wild grasses and flowers including cow parsley, cornflowers, field poppies and even dandelions, traditionally considered an unwanted weed, are all perfect additions.
Decorate your outdoor spaces in the same way you would do your home interiors, paying attention to walls and fences. Wall art is rising in popularity this year, and not those typical wrought iron designs we've come to know. This is actual fine art, framed and hung on the wall just like you'd find indoors, turning your gardening into an outdoor art exhibition. Waterproof, UV resistant, windproof, fade proof and durable, they make the perfect garden accessory.
You heard it here first, 2024 is going to be the year of the outdoor kitchen. “Moving on from the basic barbecue, customers are moving into creating full-on outdoor kitchens and this is something we expect to see grow into the new year,” says Reilly Gray, co-founder of Suns Lifestyle. “Expect to see outdoor ovens, hobs, fridges, and sinks become the norm, with the cooking moving from inside the house to the garden.” Plant a herb garden nearby for your finishing garnishes to drinks and dishes.
Many of us have a small garden, or indeed only a balcony, so it makes sense to use every nook and cranny. A compact courtyard can provide just as much garden joy as a larger, more traditional lawned space. Get creative by planting borders with a mix of varieties and maximise space with climbers and vertical planting. And have a go at painting the wall or fencing to bring in even more colour. A cute bistro table makes the perfect spot for enjoying your morning coffee.
Establishing a vegetable patch and growing your own produce is a great way to beat the shortages and cut the cost of your weekly shop. Plus, it can be a satisfying hobby that promises fun for all the family, especially if you get your little ones gardening gloves and tools of their own. You could start small with a simple kitchen herb garden grown in containers.
Sales of bird feeders and birdseed have recently skyrocketed, suggesting many of us have caught the birdwatching bug. It’s not hard to see the appeal of beckoning birds into our gardens – they help ground us in nature and connect us with the seasons. Indeed, our fascination with our winged friends has led many to rethink their gardens and add plants that provide shelter and good foraging options for birds.
Home offices are likely going to be the norm for the foreseeable future. But if you don’t have the space to sacrifice indoors, why not construct an outdoor working area? A specially built garden office is the perfect option for those with the room, plus it creates a separate work area to help reinforce a good work-life balance.
Research by Jewson Building Merchants recently concluded that half of tradespeople are concerned about the environment and sustainability. Consumers are driving the move to focus on greener, more sustainable material purchases. To meet the brief, expect to see gardens landscaped by professionals with gabion walls, upcycled sleepers and recycled gravel.
If you are looking for an extra luxe and cosy feature for your outdoor living room, follow other garden trailblazers by installing an outdoor fireplace. Teamed with enclosed seating and ambient lighting, the grand feature will upgrade your patio or decking for warm alfresco nights all year round.
Growing your own flowers and grasses to cut and dry is hugely satisfying and the ultimate well-being way of bringing everlasting summer inside. Statice poppies and lavender are easy flowers to start with. And, for grasses, you can't go wrong with dramatic pampas. Dried blooms are a huge interior trend right now so get on board.
Wall murals and feature walls have made a modern comeback recently and thanks to weatherproof tile technology, are now making a statement in gardens. Tiles glazed with colourful and highly decorative patterns can transform and protect a plain wall, making it a dramatic highlight of any outdoor space.
From colourful encaustic and ceramic to etched cement, patterned tiling has been making its way from our bathroom floors and kitchen splashbacks and into our gardens — and 2023 is its time to shine. There's no end of striking designs to choose from, Rebecca James Studio honed in on original Art Deco architecture to create this rich pink and green Moroccan-style courtyard with striking Sukura tiles as the highlight.
Echoing interiors, broken-plan gardens are slicing up open-plan outdoor living spaces. Expect to see more structures, walls and screens be they natural or hard-landscaped. These new pockets of privacy create blended multi-functional areas for cooking, entertaining, crop growing and relaxation.
Japandi has already cast its tranquil spell across our home interiors and it continues to be a big trend for our gardens in 2023, too. Marrying clean Scandinavian functionality with soothing Japanese minimalism, it delivers uncluttered, calming simplicity. Master this comforting blend of function and form by prioritising natural materials, pared-back colouring and high-quality furnishings.
While a naturalistic approach defines many of 2023's new garden trends, The Flower Council predicts a revival of some traditional aspects of horticulture. This may manifest in the type of plants we’re choosing for our gardens – expect retro and vintage flowering plants, climbing roses, low-growing fruit trees and bouquets arranged with great attention to detail.
With mental health and wellbeing rising to the top of many people’s priority lists, we may see an increase in stress-busting features added to our gardens. Watch out for the introduction of soothing colour palettes, sensory elements like fragrant herbs and a proliferation of saunas and hot tubs.
We're often guilty of neglecting our gardens during the winter months and only using them in the summer. But with a renewed interest in the garden comes a desire to make them usable all year round. This could involve adding a variety of plants that flourish in different seasons, like this stunning autumnal garden by Selina Botham. You might also add features that make the elements enjoyable as the weather dips, such as heating, firepits and lighting.
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