landscape office designs to see more creativity in 2018

Expect more bicycle and walking paths in the landscape designs of office complexes this year, predicts an industry group compiling its beginning-of-the-year trends list.

The Fairfax, Virginia-based National Association of Landscape Professionals is reporting that office complex landscape design in 2018 will include dining areas as well as gardens intended to “enhance the employees’ experience.”

In the group’s “Top Landscape Trends of 2018,” commercial and even residential landscapes are expected to incorporate a growing trend toward emphasizing a particular look at the point of entrance of any given project, with “plantings, design elements, and beautiful lawns that make  welcoming or wowing first impression.”

At the same time the NALP, which has a membership of nearly 1 million landscape and irrigation experts, is predicting a greater emphasis on sustainability.

“The integration of eco-friendly watering practices are expected to take off in 2018,” says the trends report, “including the use of plants native to a region (which generally use less water), xeriscaping (planning a landscape to use low-water use plants), and smarter irrigation technology.”

NALP develops its trends reports based on interviews with its members in various regions of the country.

By Garry Boulard