Here are the top garden design trends for 2016:
1. Monochrome Palettes
A one-color palette creates a serene backdrop for outdoor living—and plays up textures in the garden. A dash of black may be all you need to call attention to the green contours of a landscape.
Photograph courtesy of Harrison Green.
Photograph by and courtesy of Don Freeman.
Environmentally friendly Gravel Gardens (one of last year’s best garden design trends) are looking more manicured this year. For more of this garden, see Designer Visit: A Garden Inspired by Japan, in Westchester County, New York.
2. Raked Gardens
3. See-Through Fences
A row of small hornbeam trees (Carpinus caroliniana) are pruned tightly to create a flat screen against a fence.
Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
4. Pallet-Style Furniture
Recycle, reclaim, and reuse are the tenets of environmentally friendly garden (and outdoor furniture) design. Upcycled pallets (or slatted furniture built to evoke the look) provide a geometric focal point in teh garden.
Photograph by Marie Viljoen.
5. Portable Gardens
Planters on wheels, portable pots in vacant lots, and Community Gardens That Move Indoors during cold weather are turning temporary gardens into permanent friends. (For another of our favorite traveling gardens, see 66 Square Feet Plus on a Harlem Terrace).
6. Rollaway Walls
The ultimate luxury is a house that completely erases the barriers between outdoors and in.
Photograph by Justine Hand.
Photograph byHoward Sooley.
A mown path cuts through an orchard in England. For more, see Garden Visit: The Unique Charms of Glyndbourne in Sussex.
7. Mown Grass Paths
8. Blue Hydrangeas
Nothing is more old-fashioned—or more modern—than electric blue hydrangeas. The hue is polarizing—and mesmerizing, when paired with the turquoise blue surface of a swimming pool as at the Hamptons home of Finnish stylist Tiina Laakonen.
Photograph by Matthew Williams.
9. Decorative Drains
The French drain comes out of the basement to claim its rightful place in the garden.
Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
10. Instant Gardens
Photograph via Seedsheets.
Roll out pre-planted sheets impregnated with seeds to sprout an instant crop in a garden bed.
11. Grass Gardens
Swaths of perennial grasses create painterly landscapes that serve as habitats for wildlife, need little water, and look good year-round.
Photograph by Bernard Andre.
12. The Grottage
Garage-to-cottage conversions are on the rise. The garden grottage is the new guest room.
Photograph by Nicole Franzen for Gardenista.
13. The Untamed Look
Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
It’s hard not to see the perfection in imperfection in the garden: flowers gone to seed, sprawled clumps of unruly perennials, volunteer wildflowers, or a jerry-rigged hardscape plan that makes the most of what you have (instead of bulldozing everything to start from scratch).
Photograph via Wildflower Turf.
14. Turf to Order
Also seen at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show, large mats planted with turf or wildflowers can roll out “like Persian carpets,” noted our UK editor, Kendra Wilson.
Eggshells make an attractive garden mulch, with benefits.
15. Eggshell Fertilizer
Justine our East Coast editor who started saving eggshells last year to use in the garden says Though nitrogen phosphorus and potassium are most vital for healthy growth calcium...
...is also essential for building healthy bones the cell walls of a plant Composed of calcium carbonate eggshells are an excellent way to introduce this mineral into the soil
16. Artisanal Marijuana
Photograph by Michelle Slatalla.
As more states legalize marijuana, backyard growers are trying to hybridize perfect blends and grow a bush that blends in with the rest of the garden.