Garden Trends for This Season

Garden spaces are forever changing to suit the needs of our lifestyles and tastes, with garden trends coming and going as the years and seasons progress. At Robert Dyas we can help you transform your space into your own personal Eden, with our experts' tips on what plants to prioritise for different garden practices, trending garden furniture to up the style stakes, and advice on how to implement the latest garden trends to create the space of your dreams.

The Latest Garden Trends to Transform Your Space

A garden space is a calming and relaxing retreat, whether you have a balcony, a small patio or a large space to design. No matter the size or type of your outdoor space, we can help you elevate your garden for maximum style, yield or practicality. 

This season, low-maintenance gardens will be the way forward. If you simply don’t have time to do your lawn upkeep, artificial grass may be the answer as it’s great for saving time on watering and mowing. Artificial plants will also help keep your garden green without needing any gardening know-how and could help you achieve a more exotic look with attractive potted trees which, if real, would struggle in the UK climate. 

As helping to mitigate climate change becomes ever-more important, many gardeners are moving towards eco-friendly gardens. Wherever you can, opt for native plants to encourage native wildlife, which fares better in British habitats. Lavender, wildflowers, betony and crab apple trees are great British plants to add to your garden and will require little maintenance.

Encourage birds to your space with feeders, food, and other bird care items like boxes for them to nest in. Seeing or hearing birds improves mental well-being, so you can enjoy a lift in spirits while you do good for your local bird population. 

In your eco-friendly garden, make sure you have a water butt to collect rainwater. Not only is this more environmentally friendly, given that you don’t require any energy to transport water down your pipes, but the plants prefer rainwater to purified tap water. Plus, it will save you money on your bills! What’s not to love? 

Water-wise gardening will be a new garden favourite for many this year. Xeriscaping is a garden practice that’s all about water conservation and requires little to no irrigation. So the next time we have a hosepipe ban – which may become increasingly common due to climate change – your garden will be able to fend for itself. It’s also less work for you so it’s great if you don’t want the hassle of constantly watering their garden. 

Native perennials are top choices for a xeriscaped garden as they’re naturally drought-tolerant: Verbena, euphorbia, lavender, pale purple coneflower (Echinacea Pallida) and black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia Hirta) are some great examples.  Rosemary is fairly drought tolerant too (as long as it’s watered regularly for the first summer) as it only requires watering in very long spells of hot, dry weather. This multi-tasking plant will also provide herbs for your cooking and can even be grown relatively tall for hedging. 

Including a water butt in your garden is a good idea for emergencies and will save you significant amounts on your water bills – as will xeriscaping! 

Many gardeners are moving away from compost made with peat due to the environmental impact. Peat stores a massive amount of carbon, so when it’s extracted from peatlands and dried, the carbon stored in it is released into the atmosphere, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. By opting for peat-free compost, gardeners can help to reduce the demand for peat and support more sustainable land use practices.

Edible landscaping will be a big hit for gardeners this season. Otherwise known as food forests, they’re growing in popularity among gardeners as a way to feed local communities in urban areas, but the benefits of home gardens are huge too. A food forest is a multi-storey system of plants that work harmoniously to produce the maximum amount of food: Fruit trees at the top, bushes in the middle and ground-level crops at the bottom such as ground-cover strawberries, fungi or root crops. 

Growing your own food is a great way to get the kids involved in the garden as they can watch the plants they nurture grow and enjoy the rewards of eating home-grown, pesticide-free crops that taste so much better than shop-bought produce! Gardening this way will also reduce wastage and exclude any harmful chemicals and pesticides from your diet. 

Outdoor living spaces are growing in popularity and have become one of the latest garden trends. They’re a great way to add an extra room to your home and, with an insulated garden room, can even work as an office. What could be a better way of working than to hear birdsong and buzzing bees outside your door while being surrounded by lush greenery?

Summerhouses are perfect for those who just need a summer room to relax in amidst the sights and sounds of the garden, while potting sheds are ideal for avid gardeners.

Adding colourful seating and dining pieces is one of the biggest outdoor furniture trends for 2024, and it’s easy to see why: it’s the perfect way to inject fun and colour. If you’re not quite on board with committing to brightly coloured garden furniture, you can add a pop of fun here and there with colourful outdoor cushions. 

Colour brings a garden to life, so pieces like this pink 4-piece seating set are a real treat for the eye. And the good news is – any colour goes!

Bringing in pollinators and wildlife is not only one of the latest garden trends but an important practice to take up, given the alarming decline in bee and butterfly numbers in our precarious changing climate. It’s a simple change to make for any gardener as all you need to do is select flowering plants to provide nectar. Some plants are better than others such as buddleia (aka butterfly bush), honeysuckle, lavender, wildflowers and other strongly scented flowers. Many of these plants will also provide a home to other creatures, such as crickets who love tall grasses (e.g. meadow-style wildflowers) and insects, so it’s a win-win for biodiversity.

If there’s no space on the ground, grow vertically instead! Whether you have a balcony, a tiny patio or simply a small garden, mounted planters, trellises and hanging baskets will all help to create a calming green space to enjoy. You can even add slim garden arches to tiny urban balconies like the Cloud Gardener, as pictured, to create a lush haven full of life.  

Use trellises to turn a dull or grey space into a thriving living wall with plants like evergreen jasmine, which comes in various forms (white or pink strongly perfumed flowers in spring, or bright yellow unscented flowers for some colour in winter); sweet smelling honeysuckle with attractive autumn berries that follow summer flowers; evergreen pyracanthas with their clusters of vivid fire-coloured berries in autumn; and gorgeous ivy that grows well in almost any conditions. If your patio is completely shaded, don’t worry – bushy shrubs like ‘sweet box’ plants thrive in full shade, so plant some up in a mounted planter and enjoy their evergreen foliage and sweet-scented winter flowers. 

Whether you opt for one of these garden trends or multiple, get started on your transformation journey with our trending garden furniture, huge choice of live plants and seeds, and all the gardening equipment you could need for a garden to die for.