Every year, homeowners spend millions of dollars updating and improving their landscaping. From adding new trees and shrubs to designing new garden spaces to creating outdoor living areas, homeowners strive to create yards and patios that are both beautiful and functional.
As is the case in other industries, there are specific trends each year in landscaping. These trends reflect what homeowners most desire for their outdoor spaces, and they provide insight into what people see as the true purposes of their yards, patios and gardens. Recently, the American Society of Landscape Architects released the results of their survey on popular landscaping trends for 2014. What are the highlights of the survey? Let’s find out:
Lighting
One of the clearest trends for landscaping in 2014 is the desire for more lighting and new lighting schemes outdoors. Increasingly, homeowners want to show off their foliage even at nighttime, and the popularity of outdoor lighting also demonstrates that individuals are viewing their outdoor areas as places where they want to do significant entertaining. Solar-powered lights that do not use electricity and run up the power bill are commonly used in 2014, but more traditional lighting continues to be popular as well. In addition to using lights for entertaining and to show off their outdoor spaces, Homeowners also enjoy the additional security that well-lit yards provide.
Native, Eco-Friendly Plants
When it comes to the actual plants themselves, homeowners are showing a marked interest in native flora. No doubt this is do in part to the fact that native plants tend to require less maintenance than non-native plants because they are already adapted to the climate and water conditions of their native regions. This overlaps with the general desire on the part of homeowners in 2014 for low-maintenance plants. Today’s fast-paced lifestyles leave less time for yard work than ever before, and low-maintenance plants make it much easier to maintain a beautiful yard, patio and garden with less work and less time spent. Today’s eco-conscious homeowners also prefer native plants because they will not crowd out the native flora in a region like non-native plants do, and they do not consume inordinate amounts of water.
Waterfalls and Fountains
The survey of 2014 landscape trends also shows that waterfalls, fountains and other similar additions continue to be possible. Homeowners appreciate the ambience that such devices add to a garden, and they are wonderful showpieces for entertaining. Both ornate and simple designs for these waterfalls, fountains, and more are in relatively high demand this year.
Outdoor Living Spaces
As noted, homeowners want to use their outdoor areas for entertaining in 2014, which means that many of them are seeking to install elements that make it much simpler to enjoy time with friends and family outdoors. Yards and patios have always been popular spots for hosting barbecues, but homeowners are now going beyond the traditional grill and installing outdoor kitchens complete with sinks, counters, and even refrigerators and freezers in order to make food preparation and serving more convenient. These kitchens are typically installed in outdoor patios, so homeowners are either adding new patios to their yards, or they are upgrading existing patios with more seating, new lights, ornamental plants, and much more.
Outdoor Living at Its Best
Many of these 2014 landscaping trends will no doubt continue into 2015 and beyond. With so many possibilities for creating comfortable and attractive outdoor living spaces, homeowners will certainly continue to turn to these landscaping options and many others in order to create areas where they can enjoy outdoor living at its best.
American Tree Masters LLC is a full-service tree trimming and removal company in Chandler, Arizona.