Trends - Indoor, Outdoor And Influences
One thing about trends is that they tend to re-occur at different times through history, evolve or change with various generations but fundamentally follow the same principal and layout. A colour, pattern, material, product or style becomes popular and it becomes a necessity in peoples lives. Short term trends also happen, these are called fads but unlike trends only tend to last for a short period, a season at most.
* Typical trend would be William Morris inspired wallpaper its been around for some time and always evolving with the times to stay fresh in other words keeping up with modern thoughts and lifestyles *
So, how does this effect the garden ?
Each person will visualize or perceive their garden differently, but quite often the layout or ideas are very similar, the only difference being the plants they use and the colour.
When we look into the next year ( 2025 ) its easy to look for something new, something to stand out and create a spectacle of interest and colour.
But what are you looking for ?
You could easily be mislead by the garden centres themselves, they will promote big displays which you envisage in your own garden, sweeps of plants to perform a great sea of colour. I had this very problem recently. The client had visited gardens open to the public, large gardens with plenty of space, they loved there perennials and so liked the big swathes of colour the garden created. But, there garden was a lot smaller, time was more limited so constant management and watering never had the effect they would like. So, what did we do you ask ?
We had a lot of good plants in the border but a little spaced apart, good colour but to much soil visible ( which in turn dries out quicker and more watering is needed ). I lifted some plants and grouped them together, small plants 5 to a group. Larger plants 3 to a group. Then we added a few extras, Geums, 2 groups of 3, Echinaceas 2 groups of 3, three Agapanthus to give a boldness of leaf in the border. And when we finished very little soil could be seen, when watered the leaves will shield the soil from the sun and it won’t dry up so quick.
We didn’t achieve swathes of colour but bold blocks of colour making best use of the space available, it doesn’t matter what your budget is, it doesn’t matter the size of your garden with plants anything is possible.
There is a strong interplay between the light and dark colours but also between the various flower shapes, but still keeping with the architectural shapes on offer.
Every shape and colour can create interest, the poignant cone centre of the Echinacea, the orange trumpet of the Campsis, the star shaped flowers of the Tulbaghia with leaves that keep the eyes ever moving and the bold colour of the Cercis with its heart shaped leaves and the pure white Campanula serenading in the front.
Are you the red energetic, purposeful and passionate person, optimistic, sociable sunny outlook on life is the yellow person, a little green, dependable and supportive, the calm blue who is a thoughtful planner and trustworthy, do you seek a deeper meaning in life a shade of purple. Are you the life of the party orange shades are yours but the gentle and nurturing person is a pink tone, then comes the bold, risk taking and serious person who wears black to command respect.
When planting or creating in the garden, it could be borders, awkward spots, whole garden, courtyard etc we need to be realistic, independant of what everybody else is doing ( not all plants thrive in every garden ), trends are not genuine, they don’t show your personal self, motivate yourself to be who you really are, if you feel comfortable with your home decor BRING IT OUTSIDE.