Top Trends in Outdoor Design Featuring Large Planters

_{Article by Evelyn Long}

Enhancing your landscaping with flowering plants, trees, shrubbery, and a pristine lawn creates a welcoming and comfortable atmosphere. In particular, large modern planters can transform the entire outdoor design into something more contemporary and refined.

Trending Outdoor Designs Using Large Modern Planters

Before you start creating your backyard oasis, it’s important to consider the style you’re after and how you can include various elements. Consider utilizing large, sleek planters when seeking inspiration from these top outdoor design trends. 

1. Urban Jungle

Some people love surrounding themselves with dense greenery, from exotic flowers to palm trees and broad, leafy plants. For those living in a city, the urban jungle aesthetic delivers a tropical oasis for spending time outside. 

Your landscaping can start looking unruly if the plants aren’t well-maintained and contained. Large modern planters will ensure invasive flora doesn’t spread, making it easier for you to trim and shape them as necessary. Removing overflowing greenery from garden beds also frees up space for even mowing.

2. Sustainable Garden

Sustainable gardening is a rising outdoor design trend, especially among younger generations. According to a Deloitte report, 73% of Gen Z and 77% of millennials have changed their behaviors to reduce their environmental impact. Sixty-four and 63% of Gen Z and millennials, respectively, are willing to pay more for eco-conscious products.

A sustainable outdoor design regards a garden’s effect on the natural world. Often, people plant native flora adapted to their local climate. These plants require little irrigation and maintenance and attract pollinators. They support 15 times more caterpillars than nonnative flora — a critical food source for songbirds.

You might also decide to include fruits, vegetables and herbs to grow organic produce at home. The ability to harvest yields right from your backyard ensures the freshest quality and can reduce grocery shopping expenses.

3. Modern Minimalist

Large modern planters are best suited for the minimalist outdoor design trend, in which you adhere to a less-is-more mindset when it comes to landscaping. 

In this style, you’ll want to fuse elegance and simplicity with pots in different shapes, sizes and materials. For instance, monochromatic fiberglass containers deliver a sleek aesthetic with clean lines, a preferred choice for tall grasses and succulent plants.

You might also select planters in neutral, earthy palettes to blend them into the surrounding hardscaping or natural environment. Overall, this outdoor trend suggests sophistication, elegance and functionality.

4. Industrial Chic

Industrial interior designs have made their way to backyards, bringing versatility and urban flair to outdoor living. Consider what elements people find most appealing — weathered and rusty aesthetics, exposed brick, and corrugated metals for depth and character. Typically, the design also leans into black, gray and more earthy palettes as an understated backdrop.

Industrial lights and salvaged materials are excellent starting points for an inspired outdoor area. You can fill repurposed pots with hardy plants like ornamental grasses and succulents. Likewise, architectural plants like evergreen shrubs and dracaena spikes are classic choices.

5. Futuristic Landscaping

Futuristic landscaping integrates the latest technology and design elements for a memorable outdoor area. For instance, innovative planters may have self-watering features and unconventional shapes. This trend also includes vertical planting systems with hydroponics and aeroponics for optimal plant health, saving space for those with smaller yards. 

Artistic arrangements are just as common, with florals in geometric patterns, living sculptures and floating plants in garden beds. This outdoor design style is ideal for those who like to push the boundaries of traditional landscaping.

Why Are These Outdoor Design Trends Popular?

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, more people have shown an interest in spending time outdoors in aesthetically pleasing environments. Those in urban areas, in particular, value having a retreat from the hustle and bustle of city living.

A seamless blend of outdoor and indoor living, personalization and an increasing fixation on wellness have inspired several of these design trends. For example, many people choose to transform their drab patios with new pavers, built-in fire pits and outdoor kitchens, giving purpose to previously unused space. Others simply want to adopt green living, viewing their landscaping as the optimal place to build eco-conscious habits and behaviors.  

Naturally, a beautiful backyard encourages rejuvenation and improved mental health. Large modern planters help them achieve a better connection to nature while adhering to biophilic design principles. According to Garden Media Group’s 2023 Garden Trends Report, 34- to 45-year-old gardeners prefer using containers for improved privacy. Pots also add visual interest with pops of color.

Best Practices for Maintaining a Beautiful Lawn

While large modern planters can enhance any landscape design, they best complement a pristine yard. Of course, it takes time and effort to achieve lush green grass. These best lawn care practices can help you tie a thriving container garden together with the rest of your outdoor space.

1. Aerate the Lawn

Aeration is essential for preventing compaction and allowing air, water and nutrients to penetrate the soil. While experts recommend aerating your lawn once annually, your grass type and its use may require you to do so more frequently. 

Bermuda grass should undergo aeration in the spring or early summer due to its peak growing period. Kentucky bluegrass and other cool-weather grasses should be aerated in February, early March or the fall. It’s best to aerate most grass during autumn when it’s still growing and weeds are minimal.

2. Water and Fertilize as Needed

In times of drought — when the grass has an off-color, doesn’t bounce back after being stepped on and grows smaller blades — you should irrigate. Otherwise, experts recommend you avoid watering the lawn on a regular schedule. 

If you do water, aim to do so in the early morning to allow the leaves to dry and prevent diseases. Ultimately, the frequency with which you irrigate depends on the soil type and climate. Typically, lawns only require one-quarter to 1 inch of water weekly, without counting rainfall. However, sandy soils may need watering two or three times a week with less saturation. 

Using native grasses is a practical way to avoid watering or fertilizing your lawn regularly. Depending on the size and location of your property, you might spend upwards of $400 to irrigate your lawn and plants. However, native grasses will help cut those costs dramatically.

3. Mow and Trim Carefully

There’s an art to mowing and trimming the lawn. Whereas you may be under the impression a shorter blade is more visually attractive, a healthy yard actually thrives when you leave the grass a bit longer.

Different grasses require varying mowing heights. For instance, you should set the mower to 3-4 inches for tall or fine fescue, while zoysiagrass needs a half-inch to 1-inch cut.

Mowing the grass too low could lead to deterioration. It’s best to cut at most one-third of the blade each time. Mowing to an appropriate length could diminish weeds and disease by 50%-80% in tall fescue. Likewise, remember to sharpen your mower blades at the start of each season and every four to six weeks.

4. Control Weeds and Pests

Weeds can make any lawn or garden bed unsightly, and depending on the grass type, soil health and climate conditions, you could have more than one kind of weed simultaneously.

Chemical herbicides should always be a last resort when dealing with weeds, as they can harm the grass, pollinators and your health. Instead, manual removal using your hands, a garden fork, slim trowel or similar tool is recommended as soon as they appear. Pull the weed close to its crown with as much of its root as possible. 

If you must use herbicides, take a targeted approach — some products kill the entire plant. Be sure to read labels and mark spray bottles correctly for proper storage. To maintain a healthy lawn, avoid weeding grass with chemicals unless it’s mature, don’t mow or water for a few days to give the solution time to work, and don’t spray on a windy day.

5. Maintain Seasonally

Achieving the optimal lawn requires seasonal maintenance. As spring and summer turn to fall and fall turns to winter, you must complete different tasks to keep your yard green and lush year-round. 

For example, grass begins to go dormant in autumn. Stop irrigating and mowing the lawn when its growth slows, usually by mid-fall. As the grass sleeps during winter, check your landscaping equipment to ensure it’s ready for spring.

Spring is among the busiest seasons for lawn maintenance, starting with a soil pH test to determine the best fertilizer. If you intend to use organic fertilizers, wait until later in the season to apply them to avoid pests. Pest prevention using insecticides or grub solutions is also ideal after the last frost.

Summer is just as busy as spring, as you’ll continue treatments and lawn care tasks to ensure continuous growth and survival through the hottest summer days.

To keep your yard looking beautiful and inviting through every season, don’t forget to add some decorative touches that can withstand the cold. Discover creative outdoor winter planters ideas to add color and texture to your landscape, even in the winter months. Check out our tips on choosing hardy plants and arrangements that bring life to your space, no matter the season.

Enhance Your Outdoor Space With Today’s Trending Landscape Designs

Whether you use large modern planters or hope to redo your entire landscaping, today’s outdoor design trends will help you create your ideal backyard for relaxation, entertainment and enjoyment. Determine which style speaks to you the most and begin planning what plants, elements and functions you want it to include.

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