6 Landscaping Trends You Should Know This Year, According to Pros

As the warm weather season approaches, we asked professional gardeners and landscapers to weigh in with their insights regarding the hottest landscaping looks of the year. From creating shade gardens to mixing in darker foliage, these trends will elevate your outdoor space.

Get ready to bring your yard up to speed by implementing one (or more) of the seven landscaping trends and best tips below.

If you have a penchant for traditional English country gardens, you're in luck because gardeners are planting more roses, lilacs, hydrangeas, and hollyhocks these days, Joseph Richardson, landscape architect and founder of Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture, says.

«These classic, pretty plants bring a sense of history and tradition without the slight chaos of the typical cottage design,» he says.

Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture

Madeline Hooper, the host of PBS's GardenFit, says that lawns are becoming less and less common—in their place are meadows, flower gardens, and vegetable patches.

«This saves the noise and gas of mowing and the dependency on chemical weed-killers, and adds more natural habitats for birds, bugs and small mammals,» Hooper shares.

In other instances, homeowners are laying down gravel instead. Richardson notes that gravel gardens are low-maintenance and sustainable, as they require little water or other maintenance.

Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture

Move over, bright blooms! As Ryan McEnaney, the marketing and communications manager for Bailey Nurseries,explains how it's all about creating drama in the landscapes with dark foliage and flowers.

We can expect to see plants such as the eclipse hydrangea making major waves, McEnaney adds, noting that this plant is