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Top 5 Most Popular Landscape Trends from 2020
appy New Year! I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait to see how 2021 unfolds! Who would have thought that the year 2020 would have ever provided us with the “new norm”? With so much uncertainty in the world, design professionals across the board are seeing a trend of homeowners getting back to the basics. That trend was definitely seen in our list of the top five most popular landscape elements from 2020! As landscape design professionals, we found ourselves addressing this “back-to-basics” trend with multiple projects throughout the last year. With our industry focus on nature, we looked at landscaping as an extension of the home or commercial building—creating “open-air rooms” with natural and flowing areas as a part of every design. This year has provided home and business owners with a desire to incorporate natural spaces that encourage relaxation, comfort and inspiration around their properties. While many of the items on our list are not new in the industry, you may not have considered some of these top 2020 trends until spending the majority of 2020 at home. Drainage: In the middle of your Zoom meeting, you hear your sump pump continuously running and it has not rained for days. You go outside and notice grass suddenly does not seem to grow on one side of your house, and it is very muddy. With so many remote workers, customers clearly took notice of this scenario and called for a French drain system installation. These systems are designed to relocate the water being shed from the roof and channel the majority of the water underground to areas where it will be used more efficiently on the property, allowing grass to grow naturally.
Outdoor Living Spaces: Ahh, vacations! For most, those were few and far between in 2020, but clients wanted to still remember that feeling they had when they were in a beautiful vacation spot that allowed them to unwind, relax and enjoy family and friends! There was a tremendous demand to give clients that same feeling from the comfort of their own backyards! Outdoor kitchens, fire and water features, hot tubs and pools, beautiful and low maintenance plantings, efficient and well-placed urban gardens—we built “private resorts,” large and small, for customers who were ready to escape to an oasis at a moment’s notice without leaving home! Curb Appeal: When was the last time you noticed your home before you pulled into the garage? In the current real estate market, have you ever wondered just how much you could get for your home? With walks around the neighborhood being a prime form of entertainment in 2020, we helped many clients give their neighbors and potential buyers a great first impression that set the tone for the rest of their home. Homeowners were looking to create a welcoming feeling even be-
STEPHANIE PARKER Landscape Designer 16
January 2021 | kcgmag.com
fore opening their front door. Customers favored low-maintenance, native and hybrid plants, butterfly gardens, living and structural privacy screens, artfully placed boulders, and water features from the many possible ideas we offered. Outdoor Lighting: Have you ever come home at night and realized you forgot to leave your house lights on? Are you interested in the additional security and safety that outdoor lighting offers? Whether for beauty, practicality, or safety and security, customers who didn’t have outdoor lighting already chose to install various lighting elements on their property. We helped clients navigate the plethora of outdoor lighting solutions on the market and many chose to install lowvoltage, ambient outdoor lighting. Clients chose brands that offered long-term warranties as well as plenty of options from fixture colors and materials to zone dimming and color options. And many added maintenance packages to help keep their lighting operating at its best. Lighting that synced with smart apps were super popular as well. Smart Irrigation: Speaking of smart technology, irrigation systems that allowed customers to
transform their watering strategy for energy savings and water efficiency trended in 2020. Customers are over the days when their irrigation system would run while it was raining or freezing outside! They took a serious look at today’s lowmaintenance irrigation systems that allow a smart controller to do their watering for them. Smart irrigation controllers are user-friendly and can easily be adjusted from a smartphone. These systems work in conjunction with local weather stations and monitor the weather so homeowners could concentrate on more important things. I expect to see many of these same trends continue for 2021. With the global pandemic continuing, many companies have extended remote working into at least summer. Meanwhile, schools continue to flip-flop virtual and in-school learning, sending many students back home to learn. Likely due to these circumstances, there are two new landscape design elements I expect to enter the top five for 2021: pools and detached athome offices! Whatever your idea of a home oasis is, a landscape designer can make your home living dreams a reality.
Stephanie Parker is a landscape designer and employee-owner with Ryan Lawn & Tree. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida School of Agriculture. Before joining RYAN, she owned and operated a design and installation firm in the Kansas City area. To reach Stephanie and the team at Ryan Outdoor Living, call 913-381-1505 or email sparker@ryanlawn.com.