When the Covid pandemic hit in the early spring of 2020, and people stayed home all the time, many homeowners decided it was time to renovate their homes—both inside and out.
In 2021, that trend is still growing, although outdoor living has been around longer than the coronavirus.
8 Outdoor Trends for 2021
If 2020 increased landscaping trends, then 2021 will further define landscaping trends including micro-spaces and natural plantings.
Here are the eight outdoor trends to sell to your landscape design/build customers for the 2021 summer season:
- Gardens will have a purpose. Homeowners want less lawn space and more room to grow native perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees. While lawns benefit the environment, folks wish to invite pollinators and other wildlife back into their backyards.
Another 2021 landscaping trend: Multigenerational family gardening activities as well as making the garden a dynamic outdoor space, with the following:
- Group seating
- Sports courts
- Areas for the kids to play
- Sculptured art pieces and water features
- A spot to grow vegetables and fruits, including mini-orchards
- Herb gardens
- Beehives and honey gathering.
- Covered outdoor living spaces. Homeowners want to enjoy their hardscaped areas for most of the year. So, you can upsell services such as adding a pavilion roof, a pergola, or even a sunroom that seamlessly opens into a patio.
Talk to your customers about adding a fireplace to keep them warm during chilly weather or for fall nights.
- Swimming pools. If you serve urban dwellers, you can sell them a smaller swimming pool that takes up less yard space. Draw up swimming pool designs that tuck nicely into a corner or a small rectangular pool that takes up a small portion of a side yard.
- Homeowners want to feel cradled and nurtured in their private gardens. People want an intimate space that feels safe from the anxieties of the world. They want a place to nestle in with a good book and a glass of wine.
Work with your clients to find what makes their garden a nurturing spot for them. It could be a meditation garden enclosed by pines, evergreens, and ornamental grasses.
Or it could be a spot where there’s a small patio built into an empty nook at the back of their house. You might encase this area with a wooden privacy fence.
Healing gardens should have lots of green with pops of yellows, oranges, as well as white blossoms that fade to pink or burgundy in the fall.
- Moon gardening. If your customers are craving something unique or different in their landscape, consider designing a moon garden for them. Moon gardens, also known as cocktail gardens, come alive after dark.
Night-blooming florals, such as jasmine and moonflowers, as well as other plants that have silver or white blossoms, light up the evening. Add some subtle landscape lighting, and your customers may find sitting out in their night-time gardens magical.
Read more: 10 Secrets for Successfully Marketing Your Lawn Care Services for Spring and Summer
- Daily backyard trends for 2021. Since sheltering-in-place regulations started last March, many homeowners want their backyard space to be a daily hotspot.
While people couldn’t go out to eat at their favorite restaurants, they could still dine al fresco on their patio or deck.
Folks also want functioning micro-spaces. This growing outdoor trend is popular with newly constructed homes and city homes that have small backyards. Now, you can build landscaped areas in a side yard and the front of the house.
- Don’t forget about the technology. We’ve gone beyond outdoor audio systems and weatherproof TVs. Now, families want to access their WiFi outside—so you may have a client that requests an outdoor workspace that includes WiFi.
- Sustainable landscapes. Not only is social distancing on everyone’s mind, but so is climate change. Many homeowners, especially Millennials, want sustainable properties that include more natural features.
For example, your clients want less invasive species and more native gardening to invite pollinators into their outdoor spaces. Plus, native plants can handle dry conditions and climate change since these natives are part of your region.
Hopefully, this list of eight outdoor trends for 2021 inspired you to upsell 2021 outdoor trends to your clients.
However, if you don’t possess the skills to build decks or add technology to an outdoor space, consider learning a new skill or connecting with contractors who can cover that type of work for you.
Read more: How to Find and Keep Seasonal Employees
5 Quick Ideas to Help You Sell 2021 Outdoor Trends to Homeowners
While designing and building landscaping trends may be easy for you, you still need customers who want these projects added to their homes.
Hubspot has an in-depth sales article with these five how-to-sell hacks:
- When you want to sell your outdoor living space trends for 2021, make the homeowner the priority. No one likes a smarmy salesperson. Instead, homeowners are more open to buying when it appears that you care about them—and their needs and dreams.
- Learn about your “ideal” client before upselling your landscaping services. What makes this family tick? What income and life stage are your customers in right now? Do a little research and form a mental picture of the people you’re selling backyard design/build services to.
- Develop a relationship with potential customers. Most people don’t appreciate it when they get a sales call five minutes before they sit down for dinner. Instead, you’ll sell more lawn and landscape services when you develop relationships with your customers.
Get involved in your local community, such as coaching a baseball team or joining a community group. You’ll develop relationships with potential clients and be more successful at selling your services to them. Hopefully, you’ll may be top of mind the next time someone you know wants to add an outdoor kitchen to their patio.
- Ask your customers what they envision for their outdoor living space. When you take the time to ask your customers questions and listen to their ideas, you’ll find happier clients.
- Put humanity back into the sales equation. You know that you’re selling to a person on the surface, but your attitude could come across as salesy.
When you sell landscaping services to a homeowner, remember that you’re selling to a person—who may be retired or a first-time homeowner. What are their needs, wants, and dreams for their property?
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Sources:
ArchitecturalDigest.com, “These Outdoor Design Trends Will Dominate in 2021.”
Belgard.com, “2021 Outdoor Living Trends Forecast.”
