Landscape design is constantly evolving, with new trends emerging every year. What’s interesting about the 2023 outdoor living trends is the resurgence of methods and practices that temporarily faded. The leading landscape outdoor trends for 2023 reflect a desire to enjoy outdoor spaces that are functional, sustainable, and connected to nature.
Homeowners are seeking a gentler lifestyle, one that allows us to get back to enjoying Nature’s simplicity. There’s nothing about it that needs to be added or subtracted to improve it. All we have to create opportunities for its richness to enter our lifestyle. By incorporating these trends into their landscape design, homeowners can create outdoor spaces that are both beautiful and practical, and that enhance their lives.
Living A Simpler Lifestyle Is The Overarching Trend
A simpler landscape design can be a more efficient and cost-effective approach to maintaining your outdoor space. By choosing plants that are native to your area or that are well-suited to your climate and soil conditions, you can reduce the amount of water, fertilizers, and pesticides needed to keep them healthy. Choosing a limited palette of plants and using repetition and mass planting techniques can create a cohesive and visually appealing design with fewer individual plants to care for.
Incorporating hardscaping elements, such as patios, walkways, and retaining walls, can also reduce maintenance by replacing areas of grass that need regular mowing and watering. Using mulch or groundcover plants in areas between these hardscapes can further reduce the amount of maintenance required, as they suppress weeds and help retain moisture in the soil.
Overall, a simpler landscape design requires less time and resources to maintain, which can be especially beneficial for homeowners with busy schedules or limited budgets. By focusing on function and sustainability, you can create a beautiful outdoor space that is both low maintenance and environmentally friendly.
Sustainable Design
As people become more aware of the impact their actions have on the environment, sustainable design is becoming increasingly important in the world of landscape design. This can include the use of native plants, which require less watering and maintenance, as well as the incorporation of features like rainwater harvesting systems and permeable paving materials.
Homeowners are looking for ways to extend their living space beyond the walls of their homes. This trend is inspiring new ideas for outdoor living spaces, such as more fully-functional kitchens, patios, and dining areas, which can be used for entertaining, relaxing, and enjoying the outdoors.
Vertical Gardens
As urban areas continue to enjoy a resurgence, homeowners are challenging designers to produce more functional uses of premium spaces. Many homeowners are turning to vertical gardens, which can be incorporated into fences, walls, and other vertical surfaces. These gardens not only add a touch of greenery to small spaces, but they can also provide privacy and create a sense of separation between spaces, between indoor and outdoor spaces and spaces in the same environment.
Water Features
Water features can add a touch of tranquility to any landscape, whether it be a small backyard or a large public park. The sound of moving water can have a calming effect on the mind, making it a perfect addition to any outdoor space that is meant for relaxation and meditation.
Birds are often attracted to the sound of moving water and may even use it as a source of drinking water. Butterflies and other insects are also drawn to the water, as it provides a place for them to hydrate and cool off on warm summer days.
If you are willing to invest in more complex systems, water features can provide practical benefits to the landscape. For example, a pond can act as a natural irrigation and organic nourishment system for plants during challenging periods of drought.
Biophilic Design
Biophilic design is a trend in landscape architecture and interior design that seeks to incorporate elements of nature into the built environment. This can be achieved through the use of natural materials, such as wood and stone, and the incorporation of plants and other elements of the natural world into the design of the space.
The popularity of biophilic design has grown in recent years as more and more people seek to create a sense of connection to the natural world in their daily lives. Studies have shown that exposure to nature can have a positive impact on mental health and well-being, and incorporating elements of nature into the built environment can help to promote these benefits.
Low-Maintenance Landscaping
Nobody wants landscaping that requires excessive care, but you must accept that every landscape requires regular care. When one acknowledges this and commits to giving their landscaping the minimum necessary care on a regular basis, they will be rewarded with reduced maintenance over the long run.
To minimize the work of landscape maintenance, it is imperative to start with a solid foundation. This includes a design that organizes plants for a beautiful display while also respecting their horticultural requirements. It also demands that before those plants are installed, there is a plan to provide the cultural conditions that will allow the plants to thrive, rich soil, proper drainage, and supplemental watering.
Fire Pits and Outdoor Fireplaces
One reason for the popularity of outdoor fire pits and fireplaces is the opportunity they provide for people to gather and socialize in a warm and comfortable setting. As the weather gets cooler, many people look for ways to enjoy the outdoors without feeling chilled. A fire pit or fireplace can provide the perfect solution, allowing people to gather around the flames and share stories, laughs, and good company.
Not everyone has the space or budget for a swimming pool or a reflecting water element, but nearly every backyard can accommodate a fire pit or one of its fire feature cousins. If you have not considered a fire pit, you may not be aware of the options available to suit your budget, space, frequency of use, necessary maintenance, associated outdoor living spaces, and style.
Among the most desired are sunken fire pits that magically disappear when not in use. A durable metal or similar cover conceals it after the fire is completely exhausted. The cover should be strong enough to withstand the weight of at least one person and any furniture or decorative planters used to further conceal it.
Kitchen Gardens
Kitchen gardens can provide a sense of accomplishment and connection to the natural world for the people who tend to them. Many people find that growing their own food is a rewarding and fulfilling experience that allows them to feel more connected to the earth and to the food they eat.
This trend toward kitchen gardens is not limited to private homeowners. In recent years, there has been a growing movement among high-end restaurants to grow their own produce. These on-site kitchen gardens allow restaurants to serve the freshest possible ingredients to their customers and to have complete control over the quality and variety of the produce they use in their dishes.
Many chefs find that being able to walk out the back door and pick the ingredients they need for their dishes helps to spark creativity and to bring a sense of seasonality to the menu. As a result, on-site kitchen gardens can help to elevate the dining experience and to create a unique and memorable atmosphere for customers.
Outdoor Lighting
Frank B. Nightingale’s contribution to the world of outdoor lighting cannot be overstated. As the Father of Garden Lighting, he revolutionized the way we think about illuminating our outdoor spaces. Before his innovations, traditional outdoor lighting for residential properties was fairly limited. Homeowners had to make do with simple lamp posts or floodlights to provide illumination for their yards, gardens, and other outdoor areas.
But with the introduction of landscape lighting, things changed dramatically. These 120V fixtures, while initially quite expensive and a bit bulky, offered a level of sophistication and elegance that had never been seen before. Suddenly, homeowners had the ability to highlight their landscaping, create ambiance, and add a touch of drama to their outdoor spaces.
The current outdoor lighting trends continue to build upon his pioneering efforts, using advanced technology and innovative design to create lighting solutions that are both functional and beautiful. From energy-efficient LED bulbs to smart home integration, it’s now possible to create or recreate any evening environment you can imagine.
Architectural Landscape Design: Helping Homeowners Enjoy Better Living
Here at ALD, our top priority is creating living spaces that are right for you. Our landscape design team will work with you from concept to construction to create the right landscape for your personal needs. Contact us today for a free consultation to explore your next outdoor living project.