The past 12 months has seen an ongoing revolution in gardening and garden design, with millions of people spending more time at home – and on home improvement projects. This has led to a big rise in demand for landscape gardeners as people look to revolutionise their outdoor spaces. But what about 2022?

Compass Garden and Landscape Design are the people to call if you want a bespoke gardener in Bradford on Avon, Bath, Bristol or anywhere across south-west England. Here we look at some of the horticultural trends which are likely to prove popular in the next 12 months.

Working Outdoors

The trend for ‘bringing the indoors outdoors’ is likely to be extended this year. Not only have the coronavirus-related events of the past two years meant that people are spending more time at home, but people’s gardens as well as their houses have been doubling up as workspaces.

So the garden, patio, balcony or terrace has now become a multi-purpose space, which could be used for work (particularly if there is the room to install a gazebo-style office area) as well as somewhere for eating, drinking, entertaining or just relaxing.

Sustainability and Natural Gardening

An organic garden (Tom Massey’s Yeo Valley entry) finally won a gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show last year. This means there will be a greater emphasis on sourcing your plants and your hard landscaping materials ethically and locally, and on using native rather than non-native species.

Wildflower meadows are also likely to continue their resurgence of recent years. Ornamental grasses which look good for much of the year can be mixed in with other perennials, bulbs and more conventional planting.

Planning for the Worst

Another trend which is likely to take root next year is of gardening with extreme weather events in mind, as the ongoing threat of climate change is now beginning to feed into some contemporary garden designs. This means growing plants which can tolerate drought-like conditions (lavender, poppies, wallflowers and buddleja are colourful species which don’t need much watering) as well as those which can cope with heavy rain on a regular basis. Hostas and hydrangeas will both do well in a moist soil.

Another way in which you can create an outdoor space which can cope with flooding is to incorporate a rain garden. This means setting aside a shallow area of ground or a ‘dip’ to act as a run-off area for any excess water from roofs and other hard surfaces. It should be planted out with plants which can cope with being waterlogged for up to two days at a time.

At Compass Garden and Landscape Design, we offer a planting consultancy service for all our customers, whether they live in Somerset, Wiltshire, across the South-West of England and into parts of Wales. We will be able to tell you which species will do well in your soil and climatic conditions.

Making Full Use of Small Spaces

Another effect of the recent lockdowns has been the increase in the number of people who have taken up gardening as a form of relaxation or therapy. Often these people live in urban or city properties, where space for a garden is extremely limited. Balconies, terraces and roofs are increasingly being decked out with flowers, grasses, perennials and even small shrubs.

For those who have a little more room, the concept of vertical growing is likely to be popular in 2022. This means making full use of any existing walls or fences to green up a small space.

Compass Garden and Landscape Design – A Bespoke Gardener for Bradford on Avon

At Compass Garden and Landscape Design, we offer both a hard and soft landscaping service. So not only will we advise you on the plants you need for your garden (and we can source them at a more competitive price than you will find in your local garden centre) but we can also help plan out the structural or hard landscaping elements as well. We are now partners with Good Directions Ltd, a bespoke manufacturing company based in Hampshire, who are helping us with a variety of gardening projects.

Call us on 07920 051549 if you are interested in giving your garden a whole new look, or follow this link and fill in the online form. After our initial consultation, we will then provide you with an initial outline of your new garden. Following further discussions, we will produce a full design and put you in touch with a network of tried and trusted local contractors to carry out the work.