With all the madness caused by the pandemic, people find ways to find solace by seeking nature and adding more green to their lives. Although lifestyle trends come and go, gardening has become a mainstay lifestyle trend regardless of the season.

From lonely and isolated homeowners, COVID-19 gave way to homebound green thumbs. Gardening became more than just a pastime for people seeking self-care activities to enhance their mental and emotional wellbeing. This renewed interest in gardening led many to invest in gardening supplies and facilities, such as patios, decks, and flower beds. Some even hire a contractor for a waterproofing ceiling to give their outdoor living space the care and protection it needs.

There’s something so satisfying about the idea of gardening and its benefits to our health. If you haven’t jumped on the green bandwagon yet, we’ll be giving you the latest gardening trends to spruce up your outdoor space!

Outdoor living room

Staying indoors for more than a year has increased people’s desire to venture into the outdoors. To satisfy this yearning, homeowners migrated their living areas to their outdoor gardens. People extend their living spaces outdoors by incorporating furniture pieces and decorative elements, such as coffee tables, sofas, and even their workspaces.

Outdoor living space is not about bringing everything inside to the outdoors, but it’s about merging the interior and exterior spaces. The same goes for having an indoor garden by using houseplants as a decorative piece for the interior.

The key to creating an outdoor living room is to choose the right furniture. Choose a set that looks just as good as the inside. Remember, the goal of an outdoor living room is to blur the line between an outdoor and indoor living space to allow the occupants and guests to feel just as comfortable as they do when inside the house.

Start by picking sofas and statement chairs with low seating to prevent them from obscuring the garden view. Then, add cushions, throw pillows, and a fur blanket to soften its look. You may use the same interior palette for the outdoor room to tie the two areas together. A great design tip is to choose timeless, quality furniture pieces with features fit for their purpose and better durability to ensure the products will last.

When setting up an outdoor living room, make sure to position it in a shaded area to prevent getting damaged by weather conditions and outside elements, such as dirt and dust.

Patterns and textures

Patterns and textures are making a comeback into our gardens this year. Cold minimalism has worn people off because of its lack of functionality and failure to contribute to the outdoor aesthetic and local wildlife.

Adding faced plating zones is a great way to combine soft planting areas and hard landscaping in the garden. Use gravel plating to form a transition with texture and pattern in mind.

Textures also make great elements for an outdoor room. Instead of the regularly formatted paving, play with outdoor ceramic tiles to add variation and quirkiness. If you add an outdoor living room, consider adding patterned rugs or any design features to form a contrast and create textural changes. It’s the same as decorating the living or dining room of the house.

Curvilinear forms are also a great way to channel patterns and textures for your garden. They give a more natural vibe to the garden by allowing the natural form to flow throughout the landscape. Instead of linear raised beds and horizontal trellises, a curvilinear garden creates naturalistic and organic patterns. It also works for maximizing vertical surfaces in small, cramped gardens.

Bold and bright colors

In the past years, monochromatic gardens have proven their popularity among passionate gardeners. But after a year of staying indoors, why not throw in some color and life into your garden? 2021 is the year of tropical plants as more gardeners look for exotic and colorful flair in their landscapes.

Plants coming from tropical regions often grow nicely in warm homes. Aside from their lush leaves, tropical plant species have unique fragrances and produce the most stunning blooms even when indoors. Although some are too finicky to grow, most of them easy to care for and make great additions to your houseplant collections. Some great examples are African violets, anthurium, begonia, bromeliad, and calla.

Gardening trends have already been booming before the pandemic, but with everyone staying indoors, people turn to gardens to make their homes more workable and livable. In this case, plants are becoming a big part of our lives, and we cannot deny their benefits not only in our living spaces but also in our lifestyles.