What Sustainability Means For Garden Designs

The world is moving toward a more sustainably minded future with a deeper interest in how individual and collective actions can benefit the environment. As a result of this shift, homeowners are looking at their properties to see how living spaces and home designs can help reduce carbon footprints.

While there are a number of changes that can be made inside the home, it is the garden that is proving to be one of the most valuable assets for eco-minded residents. These outdoor spaces are, by their very nature, ideal for building a more positive relationship between homeowners and the local environment. To show you how, here are the best examples as to how sustainability trends are influencing garden designs.

Planting Trees

It seems that every company is promising to plant a certain number of trees and for good reason. These beautiful natural features are the environment’s very own carbon capture devices, helping to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. By planting even a single tree, a home can drastically reduce its carbon emissions.

The result of this surge of interest in tree planting is that those with the space aren’t just limiting themselves to a single tree but are planting as many as they can to both support the environment and create a stunning environment besides their home.

No Plastics

To a new generation of homeowners, it can seem odd to fill a garden space with furniture and decor made of plastic knowing the impact such materials can have on the planet. As such, modern designs are making greater preference toward natural materials, such as wood, metal, and stone, promoting garden furniture designs to change too.

Now, it can be expected that dining sets are being built with more robust and organic designs as residents seek to create living spaces that echo their own ecological position. Additionally, there is a celebration of repurposed design too, with old pallets and even broken plant pots being incorporated creatively into landscaping to manufacture garden designs that are stylistically and environmentally great.

Going Solar

While the UK’s home solar panel figures are still relatively low, with only around 4% of homes being equipped with the equipment to generate their own solar energy, the number of properties installing solar panels is growing more quickly each year.

Some residents are even turning to their gardens to install more compact solar alternatives too, adding panels to sheds and log cabins as a way to power electric bikes and batteries that can be used inside the home.

Reducing Waste

Garden designs are becoming more practical than they are aesthetic. A new generation of homeowners is demonstrating that the neat and tidy flowerbeds and lawns of previous years are no longer wholly acceptable when there is the potential to use the same space for environmental benefits.

Outdoor spaces are, instead, being used to collect rainwater in water butts and to dispose of food waste with compost systems. These practical additions to a property can dramatically improve its environmental impact by reducing water consumption and waste output.