We are now right into Spring and we hope that this brings wonderful new beginnings for you. It certainly is a significant time for the garden and hence this mini-series on great landscaping trends for Spring 2022!
Some definite trends are emerging as the size of our homes and offices change and because we face global warming we have all been encouraged to look towards sustainability issues too. In the first article we spoke about the decreasing size of properties generally and the trend towards bringing the outside into the home or offices, so let’s start this article with something on…
Taking the indoors outside…
This means adding some renovations like building a garden room so that the indoors and out become one. This creates an extended living area where you can still be warm, but enjoy a garden atmosphere. Further to this, outside you can also screen off certain areas with hanging plants or tall shrubs to give the garden closed areas like you have indoors.
Another nice idea is to utilise clever lighting in the garden as you do inside. It’s incredible how a landscaped area can take on a new life at night with the right ambience created by rope lights, up-lighting and lanterns. Do try to use as much solar lighting as possible though, far more cost-effective and eco-friendly.
Obviously, you can go crazy with garden furnishings of all kinds too. Garden couches, hammocks and designer stone tables and chairs are all favourites right now.
Design to fight global warming!
An emerging trend for 2022 and one that is bound to grow as global warming threatens is sustainable landscaping. The result of global warming has seen more fires and flooded areas so landscapers are now taking these things into account when designing gardens.
Firescaping, as it is known, utilises more drought tolerant indigenous plants that sustain more water and are less likely to ignite, and obviously avoids plants that are very dry and will light up more easily. Fire breaks are important too and are achieved by creating spaces in the garden and around the home, as well as cutting back overhanging trees and plants.
Flooding, as was too plainly demonstrated earlier in the year in Kwa-Zulu Natal, is also a product of global warming so landscapers are designing gardens with good run-off and more permeable areas for water absorption. Water-loving plants are planted in water collection areas and plants with deep roots that hold topsoil together are planted on hillsides to assist with erosion.
Landscaping is a spoke in our turnkey wheel
We hope this series on great landscaping trends for Spring 2022 has been useful and you can apply some of these ideas to your landscaped areas. At Davel and Lottering Construction, landscaping is the final but vitally important item in our Project cycle of services, the ‘cherry on top,’ as it were, of any building project.
We do not underestimate the beauty and ambience that this brings to any development, whether it be your dream home or those offices that you are so proud of. Contact us now for Spring building projects and let’s start a new phase in your life as a homeowner or business.
To all our wonderful rainbow nation, we wish you all a Happy Heritage Day this month, get the braais stoked up and let’s continue to combine our diverse natural talents to build a stronger South Africa together!