With good architecture, comes maintenance. Here are some trends in gardening

Small spaces are seldom considered worthy of a garden. Yet in today's urban areas, plot sizes and consequently garden spaces are increasingly getting smaller. [Photo: Courtesy]

Over the past decade the garden space has been redefined. With the ever increasing value of land and space, gardens are no longer just for viewing and wowing over.

They are an important living space just like any other room in the house.

People also have a lot less time and money to do gardening work hence today’s garden is a lot less fussy about maintenance. Here are some of the trends in gardening.

Outdoor living

The garden has been transformed from a simple patch of lawn with selected trees and flowers into a place for outdoor living and entertaining. There is also a clear shift in design thinking.

The modern landscape and building designers are finding creative ways to blur the boundary between the indoor and the outdoor.

While the traditional garden space was clearly distinct from the interiors, the modern garden is part of it; with a seamless link between the indoor and outdoor activities.

The outdoor living area has subsequently become more sophisticated and comfortable, much like the indoors. How elaborate it is, is only limited by the size of your compound and your budget.

At the high end, this means outdoor kitchens and entertaining areas complete with elaborate pools furnished with all-weather furniture and fittings.

Art and decor

The advent of outdoor living has also come with the need to make the garden usable under diverse weather conditions and at night.

This has revolutionised outdoor lighting, heating, shading and screening.

Today, if you can create it indoors, you can pretty much do the same on the outdoors. Garden art and decor have transformed tremendously.

Technology has brought about a much wider choice of style and materials.

Moreover, since gardens are increasingly getting smaller, the current trend of decor is for vertical art forms to maximise the use of space.

There are contemporary sculptures in stone, bronze or mixed media.

Going green

Today’s shrewd homeowners are embracing more sustainable and efficient garden practices. These have been found to be a lot more cost effective in the long run.

First, the lawn size has been significantly reduced. Organic methods of weed and pest control such as mulching are finding their way back into the garden.

Water-wise gardening including recycling storm water and using plants with low water needs is gaining popularity.

Recycling of organic waste and use of recycled materials in construction have become the way to go. And, believe it or not, incorporating selected vegetable and herbs into the gardens is also becoming very cool today.

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