The top 10 garden and outdoor space ideas that will blossom this year
1 Laissez-faire love
Maybe it’s to counter all the external stresses in the world today. Whatever the reason, there’s a flourishing vibe of relaxed tolerance in the garden. This laissez-faire attitude can be seen in almost every aspect of outdoor design and garden practices. Paths are curving, topiary flowing, luxuriance is in and control is out. Rather than an all-out assault on weeds with the herbicide, they are observed and sometimes admired before being removed manually, if need be. Likewise, as many as tolerable garden creatures – birds, insects (grass grubs and blowflies included, not just the cutest little ladybird or shimmering dragonfly) – are welcome.
2 Sensory thrills
The garden is becoming more valued as a place of relaxation but not so much as an outdoor room with all the latest mod cons and comforts. Now it is where the wind, sky, sun, trees, birds, sun
and stars, flowers – light and dark – and dirt can be appreciated. That is not to say that cooking, dining and partying outside are no longer fun and desirable activities, it is more that they are now being undertaken with an awareness of actually being outside, with less of the comforts but more of the sensory thrill than indoors can ever contain.
3 Victorian vibes
Flowers are shedding the yoke of 20th-century hybridisation and breeding programmes. More delicate, less showy and less highly bred flowers are returning to the garden. Big is no longer always better, nor is bold best, as gardeners’ perceptions become more finely tuned. In part, this is due to nostalgia for simpler days and is related to the rise in popularity of Victorian cottage gardens and their wild abundance of flowering plants. It is also due to more refined aesthetics. Those cultivars of flowering plants bred for big blooms on dwarf stems were starting to look ridiculous. Similarly, more is less, with the days of breeding plants for maximum blooms fading. The most desirable ratio of flower to foliage is finally being considered – and it isn’t a plant smothered in flowers.
4 Terracotta frenzy
Terracotta as a material (think pots and bricks) is riding high, alongside a demand for apricot, rust
and terracotta-coloured flowers. In a winning combination, these are often accompanied by blue blooms and splashes of dark foliage (the likes of black aeonium and purple heuchera). Excellent candidates in the orange shades are: Salvia africana-lutea, Helenium ‘Moerheim Beauty’ and some of the new ochre and mustard osteospermums (African daisies); for those can’t-go-past blues, look for love-in-a-mist, linum and anchusa. Of course, there are dozens more.
5 Rusty Corten steel
Rusty Corten steel was a big hit at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022 and its popularity can be seen in raised beds, ponds, fences, screens and seating. Strong, durable, relatively cheap and versatile, it can be cut, bent, twisted and stamped. We’re predicting this garden trend won’t be falling from favour soon. FYI, the layer of rust that forms on certain steel alloys protects the metal instead of corroding it, as might be expected.
6 Multiple trunks
Another fabulous Chelsea Flower Show trend is the multi-trunked tree. Instead of one trunk and a crown, multiple trunks start at just above ground level, presenting a more natural and interesting form than the single solid trunk, which is often the product of grafting or cultivation. Some trees multi-trunk more easily than others but most can be trained when young by cutting the trunk to about 45cm high. Maybe this new popularity will see off some of the uglier grafted trees, such as cherries which are often grafted on rootstock 1.5 metres or so high. The end product is ill-proportioned, with a trunk resembling a shortened telegraph pole topped with a cloud of blossom.
7 Travel inspo
Instead of travelling to exotic places for their holidays, savvy gardeners are using them as inspiration. In the US and Europe, the ancient, arid and rustic beauty of Greece and its myriad islands is behind rising numbers of stone, statuary, walls, arches and fountains in domestic gardens. While there is an abundance of greenery, not many other colours can be found – just the occasional white bloom or bold blazes of bougainvillea. For despite being a South American native, it is closely associated with the likes of Santorini and Mykonos. Many in Aotearoa are looking closer to home for inspiration – to the Pacific Islands, the likes of New Caledonia and Samoa where the prickly aforementioned climber is also popular – alongside a host of other exotic flowers and, naturally, palms.
8 Naturalistic lawns
They’re the stalwart of Kiwi back and front gardens – and what’s childhood without that soft expanse of clipped green lawn on which to do a handstand or lie and look at the clouds? Luckily, lawns are no longer the symbol of the end of the world as we know it. These pin-ups of climate change are being rehabilitated with the advent of rechargeable (and relatively sustainable) mowers and a recognition that a lawn need not comprise entirely of grasses; nor need it be trimmed to within a centimetre of the ground. The new polycultural incarnations comprise many and varied plants, some often denounced as weeds. To achieve the new look in existing lawns, simply do not use herbicides, do not water and mow less frequently. In new lawns, just let what grows grow. Chances are, you will be pleasantly surprised by all the charming biodiversity.
9 Meadowscape
Meadows as lawn are a version of what was described in the previous trend, with hosts of flowers friendly to bees, butterflies and other insects. However pretty they may look, they are not always child-friendly unless mown, which defeats their purpose. The best way to get around this is to mow parts of it, creating patterns and thoroughfares, be they spiralling paths, chequerboards, whatever takes your fancy. It’s also a good way of achieving the best of both worlds. Children will love following a magical route through flowers or hiding in the long grass, all the while sharing it with a host of small and microscopic “beasties”, who will also appreciate the variety of habitats and food sources.
10 Grow what grows
Right plant, right place is the cry. No more trying to keep the bog primroses in that hot bed at the front of the house moist, or elaborate windcloth constructions to protect tender alpines from salt-laden coastal winds. No more trying to grow apricots in Northland or taro in Queenstown, it’s the surest route to frustration and failure. And it isn’t doing the planet any favours either. Choose
the plants for a site, rather than find a site for a plant.
EXPERT PROJECTS
Create the home of your dreams with Shop Your Home and Garden
SHOP NOW
