Top Garden Trends

Outdoor kitchens have become the new must-have for al fresco entertaining. As outdoor kitchens become more of a standard request, we're seeing innovations in design, materials and appliances that can really make your al fresco cooking space the heart of your garden.

Bridgerton has helped bring back elements of classical British Victorian gardens, helping create the New Victorian trend. Featuring a feminine colour palette of pink, purple and white plants. Flourished with romantic garden accents like; white fences, topiaries, water features, bird baths, flow, and pathways. Create an authentic Victorian feel by adding in a rockery, utilising lush bedding plants and a greenhouse featuring tropical plants. For plants, think; roses, lilac, hydrangeas, hollyhock, and wisteria.

The popularity of mindfulness and wellbeing space has continued to grow over the past years leading garden designers to bring these elements into their garden designs to create the sanctuary garden trend. All centred around creating outdoor spaces where you can immerse yourself in nature and relax and clear your mind. This trend has become so popular that the RHS Chelsea flower show created a separate category for sanctuary gardens in 2021 where we saw everything from outdoor yoga platforms, to outdoor spas and everything in-between.

To create your own sanctuary garden, focus on creating a sense of calm. You can introduce water, and create a soothing colour palette centred around luscious greens and tactical plants. Think about choosing foliage that can have a year-round appeal, allowing you to enjoy your quiet sanctuary space all year. Consider plants that will attract wildlife so you can sit back and watch bees, birds and butterflies enjoy the space. Work on creating a feeling of enclosure and privacy with comfortable seating so you can sit back and enjoy the healing power of nature.

With increasing temperatures, heatwaves and hose pipe bans becoming the norm, it's important to consider the water consumption of your garden. Incorporating some drought-resistant and low-maintenance plants is a good way to reduce the water consumption of your garden and ensure your outdoor space looks healthy all summer long. Plants with grey-green leaves reflect the heat such as; sage, rosemary and santolina and tend to be more water wise plants. Palm trees, ornamental grases like; pennisetum, panicum and stipa are all great water wise options. Collecting rainwater, utilising water butts, ollas and mulching are all great ways to reduce water consumption and make your garden more sustainable.

For more information on selecting the perfect drought-resistant plant for your garden see

RHS resource page here.

Greenhouse living is the perfect trend to help you enjoy your garden all year round. Greenhouses are becoming a space for much more than just raising seedlings. With people continuing to use their greenhouses in a more multifaceted way. They are no longer a space only reserved for horticultural activities but a beautiful and inviting area for living, relaxation, dining and lifestyle elements. Greenhouses are a great way to enjoy your garden year round and get out into nature in the winter months. The beautiful plants and growing seedlings give a tropical and beautiful background for a variety of activities. 

English country gardens are a popular trend throughout the world. Popularised by influential gardens, writers and movies and epitomised by a delightful mix of colourful and biodiverse flowers and nature. To recreate this trend focus on a mix of native british blooms (prioritise pollinator friendly plants). With roses and climbing plants are staples of the trend. Elements to incorporate into your garden to embrace this trend are:

Some traditional plants to consider:  rhododendrons, clematis, roses, honeysuckle, lavender, foxgloves, hollyhocks, alchemilla mollis, dahlias and perennials. English country gardens are in many varieties, shapes and sizes so choose your favourite elements to create the country garden of your dreams.

Warmer summers are taking a toll on traditional grass lawns, leading people to reconsider if they are worth the upkeep and high water consumption. Leading many people to consider low-maintenance and drought proof alternatives. If you are still looking to create the traditional feel of a lawn but looking for a lower maintenance solution. There are a variety of options you can choose from, the most popular being: 

All of which are visually appealing, low maintenance and drought proof alternatives to a grass lawn and can help give your garden stunning year round appeal, which requires little to no mowing and less watering than a grass lawn. Whilst also being a good way to increase the biodiversity in your garden. 

Lawn edgings and garden borders are both great ways to elevate your garden and create a cohesive design and can be used in conjunction with each other. Lawn edgings help you achieve a neat and finished look and define a space. As long as it separates two distinct areas you can get creative as you like. Popular choices include stone, brick and concrete, while more creative options range from logs and shells to recycled roof tiles and coated-wire.

Garden borders remain a popular garden idea due to their multitude of uses; providing a showcase for flowers, foliage and shapes year-round, separating spaces, keeping pathways clearly defined, be used for garden zoning, creating defined ‘rooms’ in your outdoor space and preventing plants from creeping into unwanted areas. A good way to structure a garden border is by using multiple layers to create intrigue and year round appeal. Layer one is the tallest, woody shrub layer, giving all year-round structure (be sure to consider how large you would like the layer to grow and plan the space accordingly). Layer two should be medium-height, upright plants, and layer three will be low-spreading plants to eventually form a carpet underneath. Be sure to include some evergreen and drought resistant foliage to your design. Using native and resilient plants that require less feeding and watering helps to create a sustainable garden and helps to attract pollinators and other beneficial insects, helping to improve the biodiversity and create a wildlife friendly garden.

Successional planting helps your garden to look beautiful and interesting throughout the year and main flowering seasons. Successional planting in garden design involves planting a variety of plants that will bloom at different times of the year, allowing you to always have something beautiful to look at. For spring bulbs consider; camassia, tulips, alliums and early flowering plants. For summer consider; Delphiniums, roses, hydrangeas, salvia and other summer showstoppers. For late flowering plants consider; agastache’ blue fortune’, Aster × frikartii ‘Mönch’, Chrysanthemums, Salvia 'Amistad' and  Hylotelephium 'Red Cauli'. Grasses, seedheads, coloured bark and brave winter flourishers can help carry you through the winter until spring comes along again. Adding evergreen trees and shrubs with year-round interest is a fantastic way to amplify this trend. You can also utilise this practice in your vegetable garden by staggering planting of crops or planting varieties with staggered maturing dates to allow you to maximise the growing potential of your space. 

RHS is a great resource to find the best UK blooms for each season.

Edible gardens are a trend that is continuing to gain momentum and one we think is here to stay. There is a growing desire to have local organic fruit, vegetables and herbs grown sustainably and growing your own is a fantastic way to assure this, whilst making  yourself more self-sufficient. The edible garden trend is a new way of embracing this, by incorporating home-grown produce into your garden design, planting edibles among flowering plants and scrubs. A new trend we are seeing is creating edible forests in your garden. Edible forests are a carefully designed, semi-wild ecosystem of plants organised in layers with trees making up the canopy layer, shrubs providing a middle layer and perennial plants covering the ground. Allowing you to create a beautiful yet productive garden area which requires minimum input. Growing flowers is fantastic for creating low carbon home-grown bouquets. 

Terracotta is set to be the garden colour of 2023. This popular interior trend is moving outdoors next year. Terracotta helps bring a natural warmth and texture to your outdoor space and is a soft but powerful colour. You can embrace this trend in a multitude of ways.  Embrace flowers and plants in terracotta hues such as pansies dahlias, Veranda mango roses and long lasting coppertop sweet viburnums are all fantastic choices.Opt for terracotta planters which are an affordable way to add warmth and texture into your garden and come in an array of shapes and sizes (If any planters break you can use the pieces to add drainage to planters). Add terracotta ollas to your planters for sustainable low-maintenance watering. Use terracotta furnishings, opting for scatter cushions, blankets, table runners and outdoor tableware in terracotta hues. Choose terracotta tones for your garden walls and paving. Are always fantastic ways to embrace the trend. 

Terracotta also has many sustainability benefit; 

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