Several innovative trends are at the forefront of landscape design. Today’s designs focus on eco-friendly, beautiful, technologically advanced, and sophisticated living spaces. Here are a landscape contractor’s favorite landscape design trends for the spring in Exeter, PA.
1. Less Lawn… More Native Trees and Plants
More people are shrinking their thirsty and labor-intensive lawns in favor of native landscaping. This does not mean that your landscape will become an unkempt jungle. It just prioritizes hardy natives over lawns. Natives are just as beautiful and diverse as exotics. Being perfectly suited for the climate, they will require a lot less time, effort, and water to maintain.
2. Less Lawn… More Sophisticated Outdoor Living
Did we mention less lawn? When the pandemic forced homeowners to recreate at home, landscape companies saw a significant upsurge in outdoor living renovations. Often, older patios or decks didn’t make the best use of the space and lacked the comfort or amenities of more sophisticated outdoor living spaces.
More people cooked, dined, played, and even worked outdoors, which meant that outdoor living spaces had to become as usable and comfortable as indoor spaces. This often meant larger outdoor spaces with distinct activity zones. A larger and better-designed outdoor living space does not mean your backyard will become a paver desert; it may mean sacrificing a bit of lawn to accommodate the new living space and adding visual interest in the form of native plants.
Patio pavers, pergolas, more sophisticated outdoor kitchens, and hot tubs were hot items that transformed relatively uninspiring spaces into private oases.
Fire features, water features, outdoor entertainment, and wood-fired pizza ovens are hot trends that continue to enhance outdoor living.
3. Smart Irrigation
While we’re on the topic of more relaxation and less work, installing a smart irrigation system can significantly decrease your summer workload. Smart technology used in irrigation systems senses natural rainfall; adjusts watering times, amounts, and durations; and sends exactly the right amount of water to specific areas of the landscape, ensuring that it continues to thrive.
4. Outdoor Entertainment
Forget dragging bulky speakers onto the patio if you want to enjoy music outdoors. Today’s sophisticated outdoor entertainment systems are designed for an exceptional experience. Say you want slightly louder music around the outdoor kitchen and quieter music in a more remote area of the patio where people are conversing. Smart audio systems can create listening zones so that everybody is getting just the right amount of music.
5. Landscape Lighting
Landscape lighting, too, has come a long way from the house-mounted floodlight of yesterday. As with audio systems, modern lighting designs help ensure the right amount of functional light in each activity zone, as well as the right ambiance. From brighter task lighting around a grill station to soft and romantic lighting along a walkway or near a fire pit, you’ll never feel that your landscape is too bright or too dark.
6. Eco-Friendly Design
Many homeowners are choosing to devote parts of their landscape to local pollinator species and wildlife. These somewhat wilder areas offer a beautiful contrast to more manicured parts of the landscape and provide needed habitat for wildlife. The wilder area can be confined to raised masonry planters or simply allowed to take over part of the landscape. Add a bench and a bird feeder, and you’ll enjoy hours of natural entertainment.
Related: Landscape Design Ideas That the Kids Will Love in Reading and Lebanon PA Areas
