Modern Garden Designs To Try Out This Summer
Modern garden design is a great way to take advantage of your landscape and create an environment that is ready for every occasion this summer. Defined by clean lines and minimal decor, modern garden designs are ideal for both large and small outdoor spaces and can be easy to implement ahead of the new season.
A major focus of modern garden designs is the blend between indoor and outdoor living, which is ideal for the upcoming lighter season. Creating spaces in the garden for dining, entertaining and relaxing that are just as comfortable as any other room in the home encourages you to get outdoors as much as possible.
At Beautiful Spaces, we are passionate about creating stunning outdoor spaces that align with our clients’ needs. Over the years, we have seen an increase in popularity for modern garden design and know this trend very well.
In this post, we are sharing some of the best modern garden designs for you to try out this summer and the various ways you can incorporate contemporary style into your landscape.
Understanding The Trend: Key Features Of Modern Garden Designs
To determine whether modern garden designs are the right option for your outdoor space, you first need to understand what goes into this style.
While modern garden designs are unique in their layout, colour schemes and decoration, they all have things in common which make them distinctly modern. These features include:
Structured Layouts
A key feature of modern garden designs is the clean lines and structured layouts, which set clear boundaries across your landscape.
Zoning is a popular modern garden design trend, as it allows you to maximise the available space in your garden and ensure there is room for everything you want. Separate zones for dining, relaxing, or children’s play are created by different surfaces, fencing, and structural planting to create clear boundaries.
As well as zoning, structure is maintained throughout modern garden designs by geometrical shapes, symmetry and clean lines. This can be done through surfacing, garden structures or planting based on your desires.
Minimalist Planting
While plants do play a large role in garden design, for contemporary outdoor spaces, the aim is quality over quantity. Structural plants, uniform borders, and repetition of grasses and shrubs are the cornerstone of many modern garden designs, adding some life and interest to your garden without distraction.
Modern garden designs are simple and minimal, which means all planting decisions need to be carefully considered. These kinds of outdoor spaces typically have limited colour palettes, so a variety of flowers and plants is not required. Instead, the focus is on greenery, which can be maintained all year long with evergreen shrubs and structural plants.
Sleek Hardscaping
Hardscaping is a major part of modern garden designs because it allows outdoor spaces to be clean and low-maintenance. Lawn spaces are reduced or completely replaced, and the majority of modern garden designs are dedicated to sleek hardscaping such as resin pathways or porcelain patios.
A combination of metal, timber, composite, and paving is primarily used to add structure and definition to the garden. Sustainable materials and hard-wearing solutions are preferred in modern garden designs because they are low-maintenance. For example, contemporary decking is made using composite, which can have the appearance of timber, but does not require the sealing, treatments or maintenance as traditional wooden surfaces.
Contrasting cool shades, done with edging and borders, are a great way to add depth to modern garden designs without overwhelming the space or ruining the symmetry of the layout.
Modern Garden Designs To Try Out This Summer
Now that you understand the key principles of modern garden designs, it is time to incorporate this trend into your own landscape. There are various ways you can create a contemporary garden and design an outdoor space that is simple, attractive and ready for all occasions, such as:
Modern Materials And Colour Palettes
A great place to start with modern garden design is considering the materials and colour palette needed for your landscape. This gives you an idea of the layout and how you can best take advantage of the available space you have.
To incorporate modern garden designs into your landscape this summer, consider hard-wearing materials, such as porcelain paving or composite fencing and decking, in neutral tones. Most modern gardens centre on cool tones, such as whites, greys, and blacks, with soft earth tones as focal points or to soften the edges.
Plants and foliage can provide the soft earth tones to your garden, while surfaces or structures can be installed in cool, neutral shades. Quick renovation, such as painting the fence or deck in cool neutral tones, can lift your garden, making it appear larger and cleaner.
Cool neutral tones such as white and greys can give the impression of a larger garden, as they reflect sunlight. This can be enhanced with water features, such as modern water bowls, or reflective surfaces such as metal sculptures or sleek garden mirrors.
Modern Ambient Lighting
Get your garden ready for any occasion with ambient lighting fixtures, such as LED spotlights and cool-toned lanterns. Garden lighting is a key staple of modern garden design, creating an illuminated, clear space that can be used at all times of the day.
To align with the low-maintenance focus of modern garden designs, solar-powered or remote-controlled lighting is a great solution. Installed in key areas, such as along pathways, stairs and around seating areas like decks or patios, lighting can automatically be programmed to turn on at night so you can keep the party going.
For decorative lighting, spotlights or uplights angled up trees and shrubs can create a beautiful architectural display well into the evening. The contrast of light and shade, with elongated shadows, makes your garden a new environment at night and helps maintain the structural appeal of modern garden designs at night.
Modern Technology In The Garden
For a seamless blend of indoor and outdoor living, electricity can be installed in the garden. Modern garden designs aim to create outdoor spaces that are just as comfortable and practical as any other room in the home, which is why electrical outlets and features play a large role.
Ahead of summer events, get electrics installed in your garden so you can plug in music systems, patio heaters, or electric pergolas. This makes it easy to automate your garden, so it can accommodate all weather conditions and needs.
Modern technology can also be used to make gardening easier, with smart gardening tools such as automated irrigation systems being useful in modern garden designs. These systems handle the watering of your plants for you and ensure a consistent feed to plants so they always look their best. Without the need for constant care, you have more time to enjoy your modern outdoor space.
Sustainable Features For Modern Gardens
A large concern for modern consumers is sustainability. You can make your garden more environmentally friendly with modern garden designs so it looks good and does good at the same time.
For the structural layout of your modern garden, permeable surfaces such as resin or block paving are preferred. These surfaces allow water runoff and prevent flooding, making it easier to care for your garden as well as supporting local ecosystems.
If you do not want to invest in structural renovations or already have permeable paving, other elements of modern garden designs are also sustainable. For example, drought-resistant and native planting allows you to have greenery and natural elements in your modern outdoor space, but without the ongoing upkeep. Reducing the need for watering and fertilisers not only creates a low-maintenance garden but also supports the environment.
Drought-resistant shrubs and plants such as ornamental grasses can be planted in flower beds, containers or raised planters to add structure, texture and colour to your modern garden without the required maintenance. Evergreen shrubs can also offer the same benefits and are great for privacy screening or structure in modern gardens.
Conclusion
Modern garden design centres on simple, clean layouts which can enhance the appeal of any outdoor space.
With their focus on home comforts and low-maintenance, modern garden designs are ideal to try ahead of summer, so you can create a landscape ready for all occasions. Whether you have a small or large landscape, modern garden designs can be customised to suit your requirements, and there are various ways it can be incorporated into your current outdoor space.
At Beautiful Spaces, we deliver a bespoke landscaping service to all clients and can tailor the trends of modern garden designs to suit your needs.
