THEME GARDENS
Many homeowners look forward to the summer season as a chance to customize their outdoor spaces to reflect their personal interests.
Theme gardens have ushered in a whole new way of landscaping; today, exterior spaces can mimic green spaces from around the world, bringing a sense of serenity because they’re relaxing (like Zen and water gardens), or be selfgratifying (like vegetable gardens).
“More and more people are cocooning, making spaces very private and creating little places to have solace at the end of the day,” said David Nanasi, owner of Aquasculpture.
Below, a few of the options when it comes to theme gardens:
LANDSCAPE GARDENS
Gardens are no longer about putting in a variety of plants haphazardly; modern outdoor spaces look to a certain way of gardening for inspiration. That means choosing a particular style of garden, such as English, Parisian or Japanese/Zen. In the process, the area becomes so much more than just a place for things to grow.
“We sell ‘lifestyle landscapes,’ and we’re doing gardens that represent who our clients are, how they live their life, and what is important to them,” said Glenn Curtis, owner of Plantenance. “It’s about capturing their lifestyle — not only visually, but how they live their life — and recreating that for them.”
A big movement toward this type of gardening is due to “staycations,” where homeowners are forfeiting a vacation out of town and instead stay at home to enjoy some R&R. To make this more feasible, landscapers are turning to the idea of resort living in one’s own backyard.
“We believe the right landscape enhances someone’s lifestyle,” Curtis said. “And we’re seeing more and more people who are interested in theme gardens.”
He has designed several theme gardens, including an award-winning Parisian garden he put in last year.
“My client travelled a lot to France and saw those styles of gardens: contemplative gardens that are meant to be viewed from above and where there is a very limited plant palette,” Curtis said. So Plantenance incorporated simple elements, like formal boxwood hedges, a limited colour scheme, an aggregate path, and a water feature.
WATER GARDENS
Water has always been a beautiful natural element to incorporate into a landscape. Not only is it esthetically pleasing, but it’s also very relaxing.
“It brings the country into the city,” Nanasi said.
“Having a water feature really not only offers a sound that neutralizes or cancels out city noise, but it gives them something visually.”
The pond concept has certainly evolved over the years; today, homeowners are creating totally customized water features with day and nighttime lights, moving water like waterfalls and streams, and living creatures such as fish.
“They’re really getting into some funky modernization of the pond concept,” Nanasi said.
“In fact, art has been a big trend, and there’s no limit to the art world — so instead of just plain statues,
There’s nothing like the sound of a waterfall or the splashing of water in your backyard to really take you away from the craziness of dayto-day life. DAVID NANASI
there are now some really interesting ones. The industry has really stepped up to the plate and created some unique garden ornaments that can complement the pond.”
Water features aren’t just to be enjoyed in the daytime. In the evening hours, they can take on a whole new look and ambience.
“The daytime and nighttime ponds are very different,” Nanasi said. “There’s nothing like the sound of a waterfall or the splashing of water in your backyard to really take you away from the craziness of day-to-day life.”
EDIBLES
There’s something so satisfying about picking your own veggies or herbs from a garden, and landscapers are getting more and more requests to incorporate something edible into homeowners’ landscapes.
“Picking gardens are very popular because a lot of people want vegetable gardens and to pick fresh herbs because they like to cook,” Glenn Curtis said.
He has designed a number of picking gardens, one of which featured quartz and steel planters with herbs and veggies elevated at different heights, so the client could walk through an arbour and access each box.
“Visually, it was nice to look at, and over time it becomes like a hobby.”
Speciality gardens can be curated and designed in such a way that they answer the needs of the homeowner — whether that be having a space that reminds them of a rolling English countryside or an exotic island getaway, has the relaxing sound of water, or can provide them with fresh ingredients for seasonal cooking.
It’s all about deciding what purpose the garden will serve. The sky’s the limit — literally.