Your outdoor landscape design to imopriove your lifestyle with outdoor living and also increase your home’s sale value.
While the task may seem daunting, with the right team working on modern and sustainable designs, you can create an appealing outdoor living space that requires less maintenance.
With 2023 recorded as the warmest year on record, surpassing 2016, the prior hottest year, it’s evident that landscape owners will be looking for drought-tolerant designs in 2024.
Apart from environmentally friendly designs, other designs, such as backyard retreats and those incorporating smart technology, are becoming increasingly popular.
Your landscape design contributes to your well-being and quality of life. It can transform a bare yard to make it look appealing while minimizing the impact of human activities on the plants and environment.
In this post, we’ll look at upcoming landscape designs in 2024. We’ll discuss what each offers and how it may transform your outdoor spaces.
1. Low water consumption landscapes
Some people believe that low-water consumption landscapes only include a lot of rocks and cacti, but this is not always the case. You also don’t have to perform a full landscape overhaul to achieve this.
Let us look at several simple ideas you can incorporate into your landscape to save on water:
Adding compost and mulch
Using compost when planting and covering the area with mulch afterward is a popular remedy to help plants keep water.
When applying this strategy, leave some space around the base of your plants and avoid creating a lot of mulch mounds around the plants and trees.
Reducing Lawns lawns
Most households use many gallons of water to water lawns and gardens. They use at least 30% of the water consumption in outdoor areas.
Capturing rainwater
Capturing rainwater offers you a free way to acquire water for landscape irrigation. You can install gutter tanks and even incorporate them into your irrigation systems.
Adopting drip irrigation for your outdoor spaces
Drip irrigation is an efficient way of watering plants with minimal water loss. Drip irrigation systems target the roots and can use up to 50% less water than pop-up sprinklers.
2. Integrating smart outdoor technology
Technology is advancing and moving to outdoor spaces to bring functionality. Homeowners can now incorporate the power of technology to elevate the look and feel of their outdoors.
Here are three popular ideas that will rock 2024:
Smart outdoor lighting systems
Lighting is one of the core determinants of how any space will look. It can uplift the mood of an outdoor living space with a click of a switch. Upgrading your lighting system allows you to acquire customization and remote control features.
You can use a system that allows you to change colors and intensities. LED bulbs can allow you to create the perfect atmosphere for every occasion while reducing your carbon footprint.
Automatic irrigation systems
If you’re busy, you may sometimes forget to turn on your sprinklers or water your plants. Automated irrigation systems help keep your outdoor landscape healthy and vibrant by ensuring a continuous supply of water.
Smart irrigation systems utilize soil moisture sensors and weather data to determine the amount of water to deliver and when. The most advanced systems also have remote control and plant health monitoring features.
Smart entertainment systems
In today’s infotainment world, you don’t need a bulky outdoor speaker and extensive wiring to enjoy quality sound.
With wireless connectivity and integration capabilities, smart outdoor entertainment systems have made it easier to enjoy quality video and audio in your outdoor landscape area.
These systems are also designed to withstand extreme weather conditions.
3. Remedies for drainage and flooding issues
When your yard floods, water leaches through your house’s foundation, flooding the basement and causing massive water damage. The water may be from severe rain or, unpredictably, your neighbor’s above-ground pool bursting.
You can easily avoid this with proper landscaping that comprises effective water damage precautions. Cityscapes Landscaping assesses landscape areas before any work is done to develop a plan with safety in mind.
The following are some landscaping strategies to help with flooding that will be highly used in 2024:
Adding drainage areas near the driveway
Gravel or space paver driveways are two ideal options that allow water to flow from your landscape outdoors. They are more effective than paved driveways, which pose an even worse risk if not sloped accordingly.
Sloping the ground in your outdoor living space
Incoming water can pose an even more serious threat if in large quantities. You should always slope your ground away from your home in all directions.
Cityscapes Landscaping locates the high and low points of your outdoor landscapes and slopes the land from your house. This allows melting snow and rainwater to flow away from your house.
4. Backyard retreats
This trend never ends. For those who love spending afternoons and weekends at home, backyard retreats bring some of the comforts of your indoors to your outdoor living space. From setting up a kitchen to getting your throw pillows, there are multiple ways to transform your backyard into a retreat.
Here are some ideal ways to elevate your backyard into a luxurious retreat get-away:
Installing a firepit
Landscaping companies like Cityscapes offer custom fire pits to provide a warm and welcoming space. Fire pits create the perfect ambiance for cool evenings. They are an eye-catching centerpiece that sparks conversations.
Having a consistent outdoor space theme
Resorts and hotels mainly rely on design themes to create something unique and stand out. You can transform your backyard into a resort-inspired retreat by getting inspiration from places such as the Mediterranean, Bali, mountains, etc.
Creating privacy
A backyard is not fully a retreat until it is private and tranquil. You can use motorized wall screens, panels, or shrubs to seclude yourself from the outside world.
Motorized wall screens are gaining popularity as they simultaneously offer you seclusion and a clear view. They also introduce a modern and sleek look to your outdoor living space.
Setting up a kitchen
If you love cooking during backyard gatherings or for your family, you can install a simple, functional, open-air kitchen. The kitchen can increase your home’s value as the heart of your outdoor living space.
5. Edible landscape designs
Did you know that lawn is the largest crop in the U.S.? Many Americans living in suburban areas mainly spend their weekends maintaining a traditional landscape.
You can transform your outdoors into an edible garden incorporating culinary herbs, fruit-bearing plants, flowers, and vegetables.
Some popular styles you can introduce in your outdoor space include:
Landscaping with native plants
Native plants often grow naturally without needing herbicides, fertilizers, large amounts of water, and constant maintenance. This helps you preserve the quality of your soil.
Some edible plants that can thrive in any outdoor landscape include prickly lettuce, American plum, black chokeberry, American Persimmon, wild bergamot, hickory, etc.
Landscaping with shrubs and fruit trees
If your outdoor space is not large for full-size trees, you can acquire miniatures and dwarf trees. These grow only up to 5 feet and grow well in whiskey barrels or large pots.
Strawberries, blueberries, and currant bushes are pretty decorative shrubs. You can plant a whole hedge of them for plenty of fruit.
Landscaping with herbs
Herbs such as rosemary, basil, and thyme can be both decorative and delicious. You can grow them directly in the ground or use pots. You can also acquire herbs that were initially green and are now available in multiple colors for use in your garden beds and borders.
6. Minimalist gardens
A minimalist garden comprises a simple design that imparts a sense of peace and calm. It requires little maintenance, making gardening more manageable for the busiest people.
Let us look at some minimalist garden ideas to consider in 2024:
Minimal greenery
People living in urban areas often have limited outdoor space, making it difficult to develop attractive landscapes. Having lawns or growing plants can sometimes clutter up your already small space.
You can install artificial walls and floor gardens that take up minimal space while still providing some greenery.
Levels
Split levels eliminate the need to add edges or bulky planters to define specific areas. You can have a lawn with a white gravel border that makes it look bigger than a fence.
Spli-levels are also ideal ways for designing hilly outdoor spaces.
Walled-in modern gardens
Having a wall around your entire home can make you feel claustrophobic. You can, however, incorporate artificial lawns and narrow garden beds near the walls where you can grow flowers and other attractive plants.
You can also use a trellis to support plants such as shrubs or vines vertically and horizontally against the wall.
7. Vertical gardening
Vertical gardens are an inverted structure of what we consider a garden. This design uses vertical space to grow plants instead of a long row.
Some popular vertical garden ideas include:
Living walls
Living walls are a popular trend many people will opt for in 2024. A living wall is typically a wall that comprises plant varieties that thrive all year round.
This design allows you to grow even up to hundreds of plants that would take up too much space on the floor. It provides a barrier and may look like living art in your outdoor space.
Window boxes
Window boxes can hold plants with shallow root systems, such as herbs and annual roses. They are an excellent option to mount in areas that receive adequate sunlight.
Ladder planters
Ladder planters consist of several rungs depending on the height of your wall. Each rung has a wooden planter box where you can grow plants with minimal height length.
8. Rain gardens
Rain gardens mainly comprise flowery native plants and shrubs in a shallow depression. They are strategically located to soak up rainwater from walkways, driveways, roofs, and lawn areas.
Incorporating a rain garden into outdoor spaces helps filter stormwater runoff into streams and ponds. When it rains, the water passes through various surfaces from the roof collecting dirt, chemicals, bacteria, and more.
The polluted water reaches nearby streams, contributing to 70% of the pollution. Rain gardens are long and perpendicular to the land’s slope.
The recommended distance between a building foundation and a rain garden is 10 feet. When water collects after a major rainfall, it may take up to 48 hours for the water to infiltrate, depending on the size of your rain garden.
9. Pollinator gardens
A pollinator garden allows you to welcome wildlife while creating innovative outdoor spaces. It consists of nectar-rich plants that attract bees, butterflies, beetles, wasps, and other insects.
Plants such as black-eyed Susan that grow up to 4 feet provide beautiful blooms that attract pollinators to your space. The bright yellow color brings natural beauty, and they can withstand any local climate due to their drought-resistant capabilities.
Other plant species that attract pollinators include drought-tolerant plants such as allium, bee balm, beard tongues, blanket flowers, and catmint. These require less maintenance and bring an aesthetic appeal to your outdoor living space.
Takeaway: Elevate the aesthetic appeal in your outdoor living space
In 2024, more homeowners will be looking for landscape designs that can withstand hot weather. This is due to 2023 being the hottest year ever.
Those who live in rainy areas will look to incorporate rain gardens and other designs that help with flooding. There are numerous designs to choose from, regardless of the size or location of your outdoor space.
At Cityscapes Landscaping, we transform outdoor spaces, making them attractive and appealing. Contact Us today to speak to one of our landscape designers.
