Top 10 Landscaping Trends for the 2023 season

What are the main themes shaping the landscaping industry this year? Which colours are most popular? What trends are appearing the most? We explore our Top 10 Garden Trends for 2023.

2023 Garden Trends

1. Greek Gardens

When thinking of a Greek garden; stone walls, stunning arches and plenty of bright coloured plants can come to mind. Mixing bright coloured paving with brick and stone can also help you achieve that Mediterranean vibe, and finding the right furniture only further adds to the aesthetic.

Additionally, raised flower beds and a mixture of elevated and lowered patios can create the impression of a hilly patio on a Greek island. However, unfortunately the British isle won't provide the same stunning views as Corfu or Santorini would!

2. Garden Sculptures

Incorporating a sculpture into your garden's landscape whether they be subtle or...not-so-subtle, is an easy way to create a focal point in your garden, drawing your attention to a certain spot or giving an empty spot some life!

2023 will see a trend towards adding lighting into garden sculptures, and the use of rust effect designs, which can work well in both modern and traditional outdoor environments, is at the top of most people's lists.

3. Decorative Screens

For gardens with limited space, it's important to think about how you can utilise the area to its maximum potential, so your garden doesn't feel cramped and claustrophobic. Using lighter paving can help to give the illusion of a larger garden, but there is a trend emerging that can also help to achieve this.

Decorative screens with intricate patterns or those that incorporate mirrors into their design can help give the illusion of depth and that there is more that lies beyond them.

But one of the main benefits is that they are also great at adding privacy in gardens that are in close proximity to other housing, and can also help you create zones to divide up your available outdoor space.

4. Textured & Honed Paving

A current trend for 2023 leans towards textured paving over the more popular riven finished alternatives. Textured paving gives a clean and contemporary feel to modern garden designs, offering unique flecks that are a result of the manufacturing process. Textured stone paving is most beneficial to be used around pools and other spaces with excessive water as they have a durable and non-slip surface.

5. Vertical Gardens

When designing a new garden, it can be easy to forget about the vertical plane and just focus on the horizontal. Vertical gardens are on trend for this year, with more a more people who have limited space wanting to include greenery to their outdoor areas.

Living walls, vertical planters and raised flower beds are all valid options when looking to add a more life to landscapes with limited space. With houses being constructed within smaller spaces, now is the best time to start planting up instead of out.

There are also many uses of a vertical garden such as; creating dividing walls between property boundaries, adding a splash of colour to monotone walling or giving your garden a focal point to draw the eye to.

It's not just in smaller spaces that vertical gardens can work, larger areas can incorporate vertical planting into their designs too. Adding plants to arches, walls or fences can compliment these spaces and help you to avoid more messy groundwork.

6. Architectural Simplicity

The addition of an updated garden design doesn't need to be overcomplicated, and latest landscaping trends indicate towards more angles as well as clean and straight lines in your landscape for more simplistic designs.

This popular trend is heavily inspired by travel. Simple architectural spaces are a popular choice and can help to invoke a feeling of elegance, history and tradition.

To replicate this new trend for 2023, stick to a limited or even singular colour palette and keep a consistent pattern in your paving layout such as single size pavers to keep the pattern the same throughout your design.

7. Black and grey paving/decking

Remaining to be a popular choice for most homeowners, these colour options look great against most types of properties; including stone or brick.

Grey paving/decking is perhaps the most commonly utilised colour for paving slab installations in patios, footpaths and utility areas as it complements many different styles, architecture and surroundings.

Black paving/decking is also seeing an upward movement in current garden trends and is an excellent choice for creating a sleek and stylish look in your outdoor living spaces. Great at adding depth, whatever product you choose to go for, black paving excels at helping you achieve an ultra modern look.

There are plenty of different products that we offer that provide you with black and grey options; such as our Natural Paving, Vitripiazza and Piranha Composite Solutions ranges.

8. Sustainable gardens

These types of gardens are an ongoing trend in landscaping that have been on the radar of most designers for a while now.

A great way of promoting wildlife into your outdoor living spaces, this method of garden design is a brilliant way of helping to limit your environmental impact on the planet.

There are many ways to help make your garden more eco friendly. Up cycling old containers and ornaments from your home that you no longer use is a great idea, along with home composting, vegetables patches and rewilding by letting plants thrive alongside your garden's landscape.

9. Sanctuary gardens

The mental health benefits of gardening are well established at this point, with more of us looking for a place at home that can provide us with a calm and relaxing atmosphere.

During the pandemic, we were confined to our homes and thus, looked to expand our living spaces into the outdoors. The popularity of sanctuary gardens has stayed on trend ever since.

Sanctuary garden trends in 2023 have evolved to include bright paving and colourful planting, with this year being one for immersing ourselves in a mixture of beautiful landscaping, and natural splendour.

You'll also find more garden designs including secluded corners and tranquil water features to increase a relaxing state of mind.

10. Garden Rooms

Luxury garden rooms utilising composite or wood cladding are looking to make a huge impact in 2023, with many of us seeking extra space at home to work, exercise or entertain.

Trends are leaning heavily towards the use of composite cladding over traditional wood, as the material provides enhanced protection against the elements, offering unrivalled performance properties to help your garden room better stand the test of time.

Hopefully you found this blog to be of use in your 2023 landscaping designs! For more inspiration and garden photography, please stop by our gallery images and don't forget you can make use of our sample service to get hands on with our wide range of products.