What's the stylishly clad yard sporting this summer? A recent survey by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), shows it's everything from swanky outdoor lighting systems to ornamental pools and low-maintenance plantings.
Gardens, landscaped spaces, outdoor kitchens and entertainment areas are also hot.
We have a look at how that shakes out on this side of the border:
Hard-scaping goes mainstream
As the population ages and many of us scramble for free time, hard-scaping -- low-maintenance patios, walkways and more -- is gaining on work-heavy plantings.
"It's becoming popular in a stylish way," says Denis Flanagan of the provincial industry organization Landscape Ontario.
"We already know what a patio looks like, so how can we be creative by mixing patterns and colours of stones?"
He says drystone construction, which uses no mortar but instead relies on the strategic placement of stones, is gaining traction for garden walls, pillars and the like. "It's an art; it's like it's weaved."
To learn more online and for how-to seminars, visit Dry Stone Walling Across Canada (dswa.ca).
Hard-scaping is emerging as part of trend to more structural and less planting-based design in small urban yards. Multiple elevations, in decks for example, add visual interest.
Blooms & wild turkeys
The ASLA survey found strong interest in low-maintenance, drought-resistant and native plants. Jason Smalley of Jason Smalley Landscape Design in Ottawa agrees, but says the term low-maintenance can be misleading.
"If you want to keep your garden neat and tidy, it's going to take some work."
As well, even drought-resistant plants need to be watered until their roots are well-established, and some native species such as black-eyed Susans spread aggressively by self-seeding or sending out shoots.
Smalley favours native flowers, such as blazing star, butterfly milkweed and Joe-pye weed. He says the true native purple coneflower is dull, so he uses cultivated varieties such as Magnus and Merlot.
Plants such as slug-resistant hostas are growing in vogue and variety and represent an excellent and colourful choice for people facing leisure-time constraints. As a bonus, hostas also last for the entire growing season.
To further shrink your outdoor workload, crabapple trees with small fruit are an ideal choice -- the fruit remains on the trees all winter for the birds (our tree kept a wild turkey grazing for days on end this winter).
Other sweat-saving trends: ground cover instead of grass, artificial but remarkably lifelike topiary for dry areas and oxidized steel ornamental flowers for hard-to-plant spaces or to add modern visual variety.
Fresh veggies & bench-pressing
Vegetable and fruit gardens, once a mainstay of backyards, are making a big comeback after dropping below the radar for many years, Flanagan says.
People are saying, "If I can buy fresh raspberries at the farmers market, why can't I grow my own?' "
Flanagan says health concerns are convincing some homeowners to install exercise stations amid their flower and vegetable gardens.
Benches that can be used for both sitting and weightlifting, for example, add visual appeal and practicality.
"Do you want to exercise down in your basement if you have the choice of being outside?" he asks.
Water, water everywhere
Water features such as ponds and waterfalls continue to make inroads but, as lots get smaller, compact patio ponds and fountain-scapes, such as tabletop fountains, are catching on big-time.
Their versatility makes them attractive to people who live in condos or apartments. They can also be a dynamic focal point for a front yard.
Flanagan says to watch for growth in water-conservation systems driven in part by municipal restrictions on outdoor watering.
That includes not just rain barrels but rainwater-harvesting setups, such as Aquascape's RainXchange systems (aquascapeinc.com), which feature an underground reservoir, pump and integrated water features.
With the addition of a booster pump, the rainwater can be used for irrigation, even car-washing.
Systems start around $2,700, plus installation.
Light up your life
Illuminating a yard is "more about creating a 360-degree environment than ever before," according to Bruce Morton of GreenScape.ca.
That means everything from decks and pools to fountains and ponds are getting the spotlight. At the same time, the quality of low-voltage, long-lasting LED lighting has been improving, so floral and other outdoor colours are now vibrant instead of washed out.
Morton says trends include recessed lighting in stone walls and stairs as well as illuminating outdoor kitchens so they're both functional and beautiful.
Also trending, says Morton: controls for lighting different areas of the yard.
"It's been around for a while but it's becoming a lot more common.
"If you're having a party, you have everything on; if you're alone, maybe it's just the landscaping and the gardens."
He says lighting for a small plot might run a couple of thousand dollars but elsewhere the sky's the limit: "I've had clients spend $100,000."
Toasty toes and more
Paul Lafrance of HGTV's Disaster Decks and Decked Out, says heated patio stones are ideal for extending your barbecue or hot-tub season.
They can even be paired with wood on a deck. Heatstone Connex (heatstoneconcepts.com) sells enough for 9.2 square metres for about $1,500, plus installation.
Lafrance is also noticing fresh attention to style in outdoor furniture.
Toronto's Andrew Richard Designs (andrewricharddesigns.com) carries handsome, customizable sectionals and sleek glass/stainless-steel dining tables plus chairs.
California's Galanter & Jones (galanterandjones.com), which ships to Canada, sells a line of curvaceous, heated outdoor furniture starting at around $4,100.
Made of cast stone, the furniture remembers your favourite temperature setting.
And barn boards, a popular interior design element, are back outside where they started and are particularly attractive and functional when blended with semi-translucent acrylic in privacy screenings.
Living walls, a popular indoor feature, are gradually finding their way outdoors, especially into small, hard-scaped yards where the walls can include herbs or annual flowers.
-- Postmedia Network Inc. 2014
