With summer now fast approaching and our entertainment seemingly reserved for outdoor spaces for the foreseeable future, the emphasis is upon our green, outdoor spaces. These will be some of the only areas we are allowed to socialise with our friends and family following the end of March.
While the Great British weather is likely to fluctuate from wet and windy to sweltering sunshine, our gardens will need to withstand a range of elements and remain suitable for social gatherings throughout. Whether you’re an avid gardener who is outside tending your greenery daily, or you’re more of a fair-weather, sun-seeking gardener who prefers to potter about, we’ve collated a selection of garden dressing ideas based on up-and-coming trends that steer clear of the ‘garden makeover’-style improvements, simply suggesting feasible ways of updating your outdoor space.
The Extension
As stated, this summer is going to be predominantly based in our back gardens, so it makes sense that one of the biggest garden trends of 2021 thus far is turning your outdoors into an extension of your home indoors. Blurring the lines between the two spaces, outdoor furniture can be placed on decking, along with rugs and blankets, to create an alfresco dining space for romantic evenings, or a calm reading space for during the day.
If you have little ones at home, you can also designate one area of the garden as your children’s play space, featuring a den, outdoor toys, nature spaces, and blankets, to keep them occupied while you enjoy some ‘grown-up time’.
Made of a mixture of wood fibre, plastic, and a binding agent, composite decking is perfect for this type of outdoor space. Not only is it fairly easy to lay in comparison with traditional wooden decking, but it requires less stringent upkeep than timber decking and is less slippery in wet weather. Choosing the best composite decking that works for you and your family can be tricky, but that’s where Ecoscape comes in – they have a vast range of colours, styles and designs for you to choose from, ensuring you get the best fit for you.
Keeping it Homegrown
With restrictions in place over the past year, many bored Brits have taken to starting their own seasonal veg patches (to varying degrees of success). Check out what seeds need sowing when, what’s in season when, and designate a space in your garden to start demonstrating your homegrown veg prowess!
If you lack a big enough space for this, remember that pot plants can also produce food – tomatoes, courgettes, chillies, radishes, peas, and herbs are just some of the things you can grow with limited space.
Bright and Bold
Spending so much time in the confines of our gardens has led to many people trying to brighten up their outdoor spaces to create a feeling of positivity. From bright, eye-popping flowers to vivid pops of paint strategically placed around the garden, the use of colour can help lift your spirits on even the dreariest of days!
With the 70s trend of hanging baskets becoming more popular this year, there are plenty of ways you can incorporate this trend. Why not paint old tins in bright colours and fill them with clashing flowers, or macrame some hanging baskets with colourful materials?
You could also paint dizzying patterns on your fences, or scatter coloured glass (edges smoothed) amongst flower beds and in potted plants – there are so many different ways to blend this trend into your outdoor space.
Eco Gardening
The worsening state of the planet and rapid onset of climate change has occupied many people’s minds in recent years, and this is reflected in the growing eco gardening trend. In this trend, gardeners are choosing plants more able to cope with extreme weather conditions and that do not require expensive irrigation systems to flourish. Basically, the more plants that can fend for themselves, regardless of the weather, the better!
This trend also features upcycling of old household items that can be effectively repurposed into something else – from old bike wheels, porcelain sinks, and hanging decorations, to unusual containers and old paving slabs.
Wild Meadows and Perennials
Wild, unconfined meadows, and flower tendrils hanging freely, have caught the eye of many this year, the unruly beauty and freedom represented acting as a powerful salve against seemingly endless lockdown restrictions.
Many have chosen to replicate this sense of an unexplored explosion of nature in their gardens, planting many delicate-yet-hardy wildflowers and perennials to welcome a plethora of wildlife – bees and butterflies, amongst other ‘at risk’ pollinators. Rather than reminding you that you’re stuck at home in your own garden, mimicking the meadows provides a sense of having escaped rules and restrictions, embracing nature in all its uncontrolled beauty.
However you choose to update your outdoor space this year, the key is making sure that it doesn’t give you any additional work or stress, and that you create something that is perfect for you and your family – whatever the weather!