What's Hot, What's Not

Make natural surroundings your favored hangout at home as landscape artists and outdoor designers bring the best of home décor outside, one container plant at a time.

HOT: Well-designed outdoor rooms using plants, screens and hedges as walls; brick, stone or wood flooring in outdoor spaces; a pergola or large shade tree as a ceiling; incorporating outdoor rooms with the entire landscape and including grassy sitting areas, entrances and kids play spaces; high-quality landscape designers.
NOT: Bad planning or no planning, large grassy areas requiring constant mowing. —Grant Williams, Stick and Stone Landscaping, LLC

HOT:Deep-seat, cushioned, leather and vinyl outdoor furniture. The newest pieces are designed to withstand harsh elements. Also hot: outdoor lighting fixtures coordinated with indoor lights, outdoor oil paintings, pond- less water features with extreme variations in lighting, multi-tiered decks offering several intimate areas, high-end outdoor barbecues with convection or infrared ovens and variable heat controls.
NOT: Convention (think outside the box, instead), shoddy outdoor furniture that quickly becomes disposable, high-maintenance water features. —Randy Renyer, Outdoor Rooms by Design

HOT: Container planting, European urns bursting with foliage of lime green and chartreuse shades as well as heat-resistant tropical plants such as canna, coleus, agave. Also look to taking traditional indoor potted plants outside (begonia adds a touch of delicacy amid traditional flowers).
NOT: Carting home all of those flowers for the same old strictly perennial garden. Perennials tend to be high maintenance and have one bloom period a year, leaving your garden colorless for extended periods of time. —Nancy McReynolds, Sandstone Gardens

HOT: Easier-to-maintain flowering plants such as Knock Out roses (no deadheading required), Endless Summer hydrangea, outdoor areas and kitchens complete with built-in sinks, stonework (whether a simple boulder or stone water feature), dwarf shrubs such as True Dwarf boxwood. Also: weeping, serpentine trees (weeping cherry and weeping Blue Atlas bend to the will of the outdoor artist).
NOT:Foundation plants. Evergreens and traditional Japanese yews require pruning. —Kevin Chapman, Willow Green Garden

HOT: Streamlined gardens with a sophisticated, less-busy look; heirloom bulbs mixed with the latest annuals to create a “country-politan” feel, which is smart yet nostalgic, environmentally friendly solutions to pests; Home run roses; small-stature, blooming shrubs, such as My Monet weigela; container plants of hosta and hardy ferns; native plants that reduce the need for water; rain sensors and drip systems; warm-season grasses; benches; rugs; paintings; water-resistant clay pots.
NOT: Shabby-chic, chemically needy and time-consuming gardens, English roses. —Nikki Petitt, Wickman’s Garden Village

HOT: The outdoor room concept: Expanding your living area to the out
doors by creating small groupings with arrangements of comfortable chairs, a sofa and side tables; outdoor fireplaces and kitchen grilling islands with refrigerators or keg coolers; outdoor stereo sound.
NOT: Distinct separation of indoor and outdoor areas. —Bev Schmidt, Outdoor Home, Inc.

HOT: Customized furniture mirroring your indoor and outdoor spaces; glass-topped etched tables; cabanas made of fine mesh; “action pieces,” such as gliders, rockers and hanging chairs; outdoor rugs, pillows and metal artwork; faux palm trees that mist in the day and radiate warmth at night; outdoor showers made from wicker or teak; fire pits accented with marble, slate, copper or tile.
NOT: Anything traditional, except undated classics. (The antiquated ceiling fan’s newest incarnation blows fresh air from under tables or is free-standing.) —Greg Nutting, Maschino’s Home Expressions