Landscaping ideas to go for this year
Water features were trended in 2018, and experts predict that many people will incorporate them in their compounds this year. Photo by Ismail Kezaala
What you need to know:
- In the past, we have seen people mixing plants anyhow, which in turn bear multiple coloured flowers, hence making the compound messy.
A lot of innovations, creativity and class has been seen in the landscaping world in 2018 and we hope to see better innovations this year. Commercial gardening, use of multipurpose plants, use of outdoor furniture were all popular in 2018 and according to Boniface Wanja, a landscaper at Bonre Consultancy Palour, some of these will continue to be a big deal though with a little more innovation. Here are some of the ideas to look up for in 2019.
Commercial gardening
Sharon Amoding, a landscaper, notes that having a beautiful and unique garden that at the same time brings in money is everyone’s dream. 2019 will be a great year of commercial gardening where people use their gardens to plant food crops and fruits such as apples, mangoes, oranges, lemons that will give them money at the same time create beauty in a home.
Creativity will come in on how and where the plants will be placed in the garden and how it will be partitioned to have them placed in an artistic way.
Shade gardens
People love having shades in their compounds where they can relax incase of a sunny day, this has invited the use of shady gardens, which are incorporated by use of tents, huts or trees. Big trees are to be used to create a natural shade which in most cases are the best.
“Creating a shady garden could include use of shrubs and maybe if possible, add a water feature in the compound to emphasised the natural breeze,” Amoding says.
Incorporating features
Art is one of the most appreciated aspects in the country today and people have highly embraced them. People will incorporate crafted features, sculptures among others.
“Features like gyms, swimming pools, children’s play areas, basketball courts among others will continue to be incorporated in the compounds as people love the comfort of their home rather than going out for fun,” she says adding that chairs are incorporated in these shades for sitting on.
Use of multipurpose plants
A way from having plants for beauty, people have opted for multipurpose plants. These are plants that can do more than one job in a garden. For example, herbs that create beauty and are used as medicine among others.
Wanja notes that this will continue even in 2019 because people have and are still appreciating them. The only difference will be applying more creative ways of having them in the compound. “We are planning to get more multipurpose plants on the market so that we can give our customers the best services,” he adds.
Container gardening
Due to limited space to have plants directly in the soil, most home owners have resorted to using containers for their plants. This is not about to stop according to Ritah Masika a florist. People will continue using containers just that new container styles and where the plants are to be placed will change a bit.
“Container gardening bring double beauty to the home as they enhance a plants look, choice on containers shape and colour matters” she adds.
Clean gardens
“Currently, most home owners don’t give their garden time as much as they should hence keeping them dirty all the time. In 2019, we plant to keep gardens cleaner because cleanliness adds to the beauty of the compound,” Amoding adds.
Desert plants
Drought-resistant plants have been appreciated since 2016 and they will continue being used due to the unpredictable weather we have. These survive in all kinds of weathers without any effect, Amoding says that people continue to use them because they need less care and are weed and insect resistant as well.
Use of matching plants
In the past, we have seen people mixing plants anyhow, which in turn bear multiple coloured flowers, hence making the compound messy.
This has however changed as landscapers are now more careful in the selection of flowers to match the theme colour.
“If we have white flowers, we will match them with those that bare blue or even blend in a purple depending on what the customer wants,” Amoding says.
She adds that this is something that they have just started implementing and is not about to stop.
So, 2019 will be a year of plants complementing themes in a home.
