Designing a Contemporary Garden with Warmth

Designing a Contemporary Garden with Warmth

Posted by John P. Bradford // December 29, 2015

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The sleek and unadorned materials, clean cut lines and space-age style of contemporary gardens can easily slip into the extreme, creating an uninviting and cold environment. Although the minimalist approach is the essence of modern landscaping, you can still add warmth to contemporary gardens. Some texture and colours, and a few personal touches, will turn your garden into a warm and welcoming zone.

Garden Hardscape with texture

The word ‘honest’ is often heard in relation to modern hardscape materials. ‘Honest’ materials are those that are used as they are. Sleek concrete, for example, is more ‘honest’ than stamped concrete. One way to add texture to ‘honesty’ is to combine various kinds of the same material, or different sizes of the same kind of material. Adding any vibrant colours to hardscape can mean deviating from the modern looks. But, using natural subtle colours will add just enough liveliness to a sterile walkway or a patio. Use as much wood as possible. Not just for garden furniture, but for paving as well. It is acceptable in terms of modern aesthetics and it adds warmth to any indoor or outdoor space. Use oiled wood for different colorations. Steel is a cool material in itself, but weathered and rusted steel fences introduce a new rich tone to the landscape and give off the feel of old times.

Add vibrancy to your garden with the right plants

Sculptural plants became a standard in modern exterior design, although they seem quite rigid. On the other hand, plants with more loose and natural look bring playfulness and vibrancy to the landscape. The hardscape of contemporary garden designs is architectural enough to provide the sense of organized space. Flowering plants will add colour and soften the space, and you can easily find the kinds that flower from spring to autumn. Decorative flowerpots are a simple and inexpensive way to break the uniformity of the view.

Living walls have been known since the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but they have been gaining in popularity for the last few years. Each of these walls is designed specifically for the given space, making it a sort of a living piece of art. If planned carefully, these vertical gardens will never go out of fashion. Bamboo wall is a very common choice in modern garden designs, and for a good reason – they are pretty linear. Yet a bamboo wall can turn your backyard into a tranquil paradise. You will enjoy the privacy of your garden, but without the feeling of being caged.

Mind the layout to the garden

Even the most perfectly selected elements will have no effect if combined ill. To add the third dimension to your garden, place elevated planters. This way you will accentuate the plantings, and the cold looking patio will no longer be the focal point. You can go for an all-concrete-tiles walkway, or you can combine concrete with grass and other groundcover plants to make an interesting layout. Grass tiles are an extremely popular feature to incorporate into these grids. Other great choices are elfin thyme, sedums, and hens-and-chickens for drought prone gardens, sweet woodruff, bishops weed, ajuga and lamium for shades. The seating area should be the centrepiece of the outdoor living room. As far as the design is concerned, natural colour or white wood is always a good choice as long as it is comfortable. Place a statement flowerpot on the table and your garden will have all it needs to be modern and cosy at the same time.

Do you prefer traditional or contemporary gardens, or a combination of the two?

Exclusively Written For Homes Re-Imagined, LLC By Derek Lotts