Looking for on-trend garden ideas to get set for warmer weather? Over recent years, our gardens have become extensions of our homes, offering a green space in which we can relax, play, cook, dine and even work. So, let’s look ahead and see what 2023 has in store for your outdoor living space. Whether you’ve got acres of land or a bijoux balcony, click or scroll on to discover the latest garden trends...

Research by Jewson Building Merchants recently concluded that half of tradespeople are concerned about the environment and sustainability. Consumers are driving the move to focus on greener, more sustainable material purchases. To meet the brief, expect to see gardens landscaped by professionals with gabion walls, upcycled sleepers and recycled gravel.

The traditional green lawn with smart angled stripes is currently under attack from bombs – wildflower seed bombs that is! Allowing your lawn or part of your garden to grow into a wildflower meadow will make it environmentally friendly beyond compare. So, park the mower and launch a floral explosion with seed bombs made from little balls of compost crammed with seeds. Once thrown into your flowerbed or lawn and left to grow alongside long grass, they should transform into beautiful insect-loving wildflowers.

After a few hot summers and hosepipe bans, homeowners are looking for garden ideas that do not require much hydration. Take inspiration from desert-scapes and hot, dusty climates by planting drought-tolerant plants and shrubs surrounded with gravel. If in need of colour, look to hollyhocks, irises and agapanthus. But step away from the Hydrangea – the clue is in the name. 

With cottagecore a huge country living trend inside our homes, it's no wonder that nature-inspired decorating is heading outside, too. Reliable favourites such as roses, hydrangeas and foxgloves are perfect choices when creating the quintessential cottage garden look, providing softness and nostalgia.

If you are looking for an extra luxe and cosy feature for your outdoor living room, follow other garden trailblazers by installing an outdoor fireplace. Teamed with enclosed seating and ambient lighting, the grand feature will upgrade your patio or decking for warm alfresco nights all year round. 

A swimming pool may seem like a luxury but shrink-fitting could soon make an outdoor dip more attainable. Plunge pools, lap pools, pocket pools and even natural pond pools take up a lot less space and resources, so are cheaper to construct and more practical to run. The petite pools have been seducing Europeans in urban areas for years and will be making a splash everywhere here, too. 

Growing your own flowers and grasses to cut and dry is hugely satisfying and the ultimate well-being way of bringing everlasting summer inside. Statice poppies and lavender are easy flowers to start with. And, for grasses, you can't go wrong with dramatic pampas. Dried blooms are a huge interior trend right now so get on board.

Wall murals and feature walls have made a modern comeback recently and thanks to weatherproof tile technology, are now making a statement in gardens. Tiles glazed with colourful and highly decorative patterns can transform and protect a plain wall, making it a dramatic highlight of any outdoor space. 

From colourful encaustic and ceramic to etched cement, patterned tiling has been making its way from our bathroom floors and kitchen splashbacks and into our gardens — and 2023 is its time to shine. There's no end of striking designs to choose from, Rebecca James Studio honed in on original Art Deco architecture to create this rich pink and green Moroccan-style courtyard with striking Sukura tiles as the highlight.

Echoing interiors, broken-plan gardens are slicing up open-plan outdoor living spaces. Expect to see more structures, walls and screens be they natural or hard-landscaped. These new pockets of privacy create blended multi-functional areas for cooking, entertaining, crop growing and relaxation. 

When it comes to what materials to use in your garden, The Flower Council predicts a surge in popularity for natural materials like ceramics, granite and wicker: “It’s all about materials that can be natural, artisan and practical at the same time”. Terracotta – Italian for 'baked earth' – is an excellent, eco-friendly choice. While this garden staple has been around for thousands of years, the latest iteration is a more rustic interpretation with a focus on visible craftsmanship and unique, one-of-a-kind finishes.

Japandi has already cast its tranquil spell across our home interiors and it continues to be a big trend for our gardens in 2023, too. Marrying clean Scandinavian functionality with soothing Japanese minimalism, it delivers uncluttered, calming simplicity. Master this comforting blend of function and form by prioritising natural materials, pared-back colouring and high-quality furnishings.

Many of us have small gardens or balconies, so it's important to make the most of every nook and cranny by getting creative with space. Maximise smaller outdoor areas by utilising ideas like plant shelving, climbing plants, vertical growing and even hanging gardens.

2023 will also see a big focus on greenery. Award-winning, London-based garden designer Charlotte Rowe is forecasting a focus on grasses in particular. “What’s trending with clients is using grasses mixed with perennials and bulbs alongside more structural planting,” she says. “They look good for a lot of the year and do not need masses of maintenance.” 

Our newfound appetite for alfresco living continues to grow post-pandemic. Expect to see more and more outside rooms equipped with comfortable seating, outdoor rugs and firepits arranged socially under a shelter such as a pergola or an awning. 

Sales of bird feeders and birdseed have recently skyrocketed, suggesting many of us have caught the birdwatching bug. It’s not hard to see the appeal of beckoning birds into our gardens – they help ground us in nature and connect us with the seasons. Indeed, our fascination with our winged friends has led many to rethink their gardens and add plants that provide shelter and good foraging options for birds.

Compact spaces where you can sit and watch the world go by or catch up with your neighbours, porches and front gardens can offer fresh air and a vital connection to the world beyond your fence. You can make yours more inviting with comfy seating, good lighting, potted plants and a freshly painted front door. 

Barbecues are so 20th century! With the focus on outdoor living, many of us are keen to enjoy the full alfresco cooking experience. An outdoor kitchen could be as simple as a firepit with a removable grill top, or you could go the whole hog and install a barbecue, pizza oven, functional prep area, outdoor sink with running water and even outside refrigeration. Plant a herb garden or fruit trees nearby for a complete garden-to-plate experience.  

Living walls have made a name for themselves both outside and inside our homes for a while now, but the latest offshoot of this growing method seeks to create a flourishing ecosystem in even the smallest of spaces. Stacked pockets, often made from recycled plastics or felt, are filled with lush vegetation and aromatic herbs that spill out in a rugged, natural display. 

Home offices are likely going to be the norm for the foreseeable future. But if you don’t have the space to sacrifice indoors, why not construct an outdoor working area? A specially built garden office is the perfect option for those with the room, plus it creates a separate work area to help reinforce a good work-life balance.

Weatherproof artwork will add character to lifeless fences and garden walls this year. Shelves filled with pretty garden accessories, decorative metal hangings or aluminium cut-outs will transform your garden into an outdoor exhibition. 

While a naturalistic approach defines many of 2023's new garden trends, The Flower Council predicts a revival of some traditional aspects of horticulture. This may manifest in the type of plants we’re choosing for our gardens – expect retro and vintage flowering plants, climbing roses, low-growing fruit trees and bouquets arranged with great attention to detail. 

Who has time for meticulously trimmed box hedges? Not us! This year will see a move away from strict, rigid lines in favour of more organic shapes and natural designs, as seen in this space by Doug Holloway Garden Design. This works particularly well in smaller gardens, where curves give a softer, more relaxing vibe, delivering a much more interesting space. So, if you’re planning on a new path, lawn, wall, bed or border – think curvy! You might even consider introducing softness by way of shapely planters, arced benches and fire bowls.

In another nod towards all things natural, textured stone across paving and planting borders is set to be big. “We use a combination of brushed or slightly textured limestones and sandstones and smooth or honed stones to give additional interest,” says garden designer, Charlotte Rowe. “We recommend the use of stone with traceable provenance. We prefer to know where the stone we use has come from.”

With mental health and wellbeing rising to the top of many people’s priority lists, we may see an increase in stress-busting features added to our gardens. Watch out for the introduction of soothing colour palettes, sensory elements like fragrant herbs and a proliferation of saunas and hot tubs. 

We're often guilty of neglecting our gardens during the winter months and only using them in the summer. But with a renewed interest in the garden comes a desire to make them usable all year round. This could involve adding a variety of plants that flourish in different seasons, like this stunning autumnal garden by Selina Botham. You might also add features that make the elements enjoyable as the weather dips, such as heating, firepits and lighting. 

A valuable extra living room in the warmer months, it's important that our gardens feel private and protected. Venetian fencing is making waves in 2023 and offers a great way to secure your outdoor space while upping its style points for the year ahead. Featuring a horizontal slatted formation, the design both shields your garden from prying eyes and allows light and air to filter through. Win-win!

Establishing a vegetable patch and growing your own produce is a great way to beat the shortages and cut the cost of your weekly shop. Plus, it can be a satisfying hobby that promises fun for all the family, especially if you get your little ones gardening gloves and tools of their own. You could start small with a simple kitchen herb garden grown in containers. 

We will see a continued emphasis on planet-friendly gardening ideas in 2023 like organic growing, peat- and pesticide-free planting and a return to the basics such as composting. There’ll also be a focus on biodiversity and using the right plants in the right place to minimise watering needs. 

Herringbone has been big news inside our homes, from elegant wooden floors to elaborate bathroom tiling. Luckily, 2023 is the year when this timeless pattern transitions into our gardens. If you're looking to shake things up and move away from predictable paving slabs, it doesn't get much more stylish than a herringbone brick patio. Combining a rustic, artisanal aesthetic with intricate detailing, it's the ultimate outdoor statement floor.