Winter for the gardener is a time of planning, thinking, searching for new ideas. And so that you could get inspiration from, we have prepared a selection of landscape design styles that will be trendy in 2021.
Minimalism – the style of busy people
People working from morning to evening at work and living in a crazy rhythm want to get maximum comfort from the garden, spending a minimum of time on care. The answer to this request was the minimalism style, borrowed by landscape architects from interior design. Its main features are simplicity, conciseness, a calm palette, functionality, expressiveness.
Minimalism in 2021 continues to be one of the most fashionable and sought-after styles of landscape design.
It blends best with modern architecture. The main strategy of such a garden is to combine the green zone and living space. Today it is customary to equip full-fledged summer kitchens, living rooms, patios in the fresh air – cozy and comfortable places where you can have lunch, receive guests, or just sit with a laptop.
At the peak of popularity – gazebos, terraces, barbecue areas with simple geometric shapes, but with high functionality and adaptability. For example, pavilions with panoramic glazing, modern cooking areas, pergolas with a retractable roof, etc.
An open plan of the plot is welcomed by analogy with the studio. There is no clear division of space into zones, and the composition consists of several modules and multilevel platforms, stylistically combined.
From plants for a minimalistic garden, perennials, ornamental shrubs, conifers, and cereals are best suited. Decorative bedding of flower beds, tree-trunk circles, paths also remains in demand.
Japanese style
The Europeans have always been attracted by the culture of the East with its energy of appeasement and harmony with nature, which is so lacking in an urbanized society. But since the landscape design of the garden is always subordinate to the style of the house (and European architecture has little in common with traditional Japanese houses), the Japanese style has taken root in the form of separate corners or islands in the gardens of Europeans.
The key elements of the Japanese garden are water, stones, plants. Each of them represents a certain element, and the composition, even the smallest, is a model of nature, filled with inner meaning and symbolism. If the composition is composed successfully, I want to consider it as a work of art.
In modern gardens, many elements of the Japanese style have taken root.
Rockeries, gravel dumps, and “dry streams” remain relevant. Moreover, in order to bring Japanese style to the landscape, it is completely optional to create a large rock garden, as is customary in the Land of the Rising Sun. It is enough to draw up a small but carefully thought-out composition.
Another basic element of the Japanese garden that you can implement on your site in 2021 is an artificial pond. It can be a small pond, picturesquely overgrown with duckweed, a stream with a “humpback” bridge thrown over it, a fountain in the form of a small waterfall with continuously flowing water.
From plants, various conifers, maples, boxwoods, spireas, rhododendrons fit into this style. In particular honor – perennials – ferns, cereals, brunners, mountain clematis, daylilies, girl’s grapes. Well, what a Japanese garden without irises and Japanese chrysanthemums!
An actual technique is the creation of monosads, where a limited number of types of elements are used to create a harmonious composition.
In general, monosads are a whole trend in the Japanese landscape style. Their representatives are:
- Rock garden . The main role here, as the name implies, is played by decorative boulders, monoliths and pebbles. At first glance, it may seem that stones and sand streams are located randomly. But in fact, such a composition is carefully thought out and compiled in accordance with the principles of Zen Buddhism. That is why in the movies we often see samurai who indulge in meditation and reflection on being in the rock garden.
- Flower garden . Plants for such a garden are selected so that their flowering occurs at different times. But this is not all – they must certainly be monochrome: either of the same color, or represent its shades, for example, only orange or only white.
- Garden of color . This variety of Japanese style is always subject to only one color – green, presented in several shades. Gardens are considered a real masterpiece in which all plants differ from the main color by one semitone. So it turns out a composition with subtle overflows, which you can admire endlessly.
Scandinavian style
Scandinavian style is the same minimalism, but in the northern reading. Scandinavians, deprived of the sun and lush vegetation, are especially sensitive to nature and appreciate its natural beauty. Northern gardens are simple, concise, functional, but at the same time a little magical and unusually cozy.
Scandinavian techniques in demand in the upcoming season include:
- large green lawns with single plantings or miniature group compositions;
- arches, arbors, pergolas made of wood, entwined with ivy or clematis;
- hedges;
- lawns with wild plants – cereals, heathers, wildflowers;
- container flower beds;
- stone paved walkways and tracks;
- original wooden figurines, for example, favorite characters of the Scandinavian epos – gnomes.
Always relevant: classic and English style
But no matter what the new trends are, there are styles that do not obey the trends, since they themselves are trendsetters.
These include the English landscape style, stylized as a deliberately neglected, slightly sloppy “wild” corner of nature, but actually carefully thought out and well-groomed.
The same can be said of the classical regular style with its clear proportions, impeccable geometry of flowerbeds and paths, mirror symmetry and astonishing topiary forms.
Fashion is a windy lady, and it’s hard to keep up with. But if your site is initially designed in style and in harmony with the surrounding landscape, it will always be in trend. We hope that the recommendations of the Garden Design studio will inspire you to create just such a garden.
I learned that my friend wants to use his outdoor space as a centerpiece for his guests to enjoy. I love your suggestion of using a Japanese theme because of its natural and minimalistic approach. I’ll keep this in mind and share this with him so he could consult a landscaping expert for it.