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Local Landscape Professionals Share Their Thoughts on Trendsby KRISTEN ARMSTRONG, Staff Writer |
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| With summer right around the
corner, you might be looking at your outdoor property and considering
getting landscape work done. What are the trends this year? Two local landscapers share what's hot with their clients: Dwain Trump, Multiflora Landscape Nursery in Aldie: “With housing prices down, people are holding on to their properties, and most want to reinvest in their outdoor living area to utilize their properties to their maximum potential,” Trump said. “People are focusing on landscaping so their property looks good down the line, when they go to resale.” “What is hot this year is no-mow and patio areas, to create a more low-maintenance landscape, while using the whole property,” he said. Cottage gardens, shrubs that don't require too much shearing and pruning and patios of blue stone (a compacted gravel) are all popular for their low-maintenance characteristics. He is particularly supportive of no-mow areas, which can range from turning field spaces to natural meadows to creating wetlands areas. “It's the best thing for the environment, and that's what it's all about,” Trump said. “There isn't carbon monoxide that mowers put out, and you're saving green space.” He also said that “people are starting to appreciate year-round color.” Trump creates successions of small flowering trees and shrubs that “bloom and give interest” throughout the seasons. Skip Edgmond, GreenWorks Landscapes in Chantilly: “Most people are doing the ‘outdoor room,' where they're putting in things like outdoor fireplaces and water features,” Edgemond said. “People are gravitating more to outdoor space.” Other trends Edgemond has picked up on are looser, less formal gardens and an increase in requests for perennials, especially ones that do not take too much time to care for. “There's a new hydrangea out called Endless Summer, which is a big, blue, globe flower, which blooms on new growth,” he said. “Hydrangeas are always popular.” The ability to bloom on new growth is a plus for time-constrained or new gardeners because it makes the pruning process “foolproof,” he said. Knock-out roses, a shrub rose generally with a red-blend color, are also popular among Edgemond's clients. “Overall, people are just gravitating to more flowers and shrubbery,” he said. “With the price of gas, people are spending more money on their homes, so they don't have to leave them.” |
 Dwain Trump of Multiflora Landscape Nursery in Aldie has noticed that clients now prefer less formal gardens and low-maintenance landscapes. |