by Catriona McLean - February 2010

Influences from 2009 – global economic situation - global climate change –global political situation and stability: all have impact on lifestyle in 2010.

Grow your own food, self sufficiency.

Community sharing and gardening in urban spaces, creating co operative gardens and back to allotment gardening for all ages.

Heritage seed and sustainability of rare plants and trees under threat. Mix vegetable or edible plantings with flowering plants and shrubs.

Informality and surprises amongst the border planting.

Low maintenance gardening - compact planting to keep down necessity to weed - less lawn to keep strimming and mowing down to a minimum.

Less formal gardening yet symmetry and restraint in plant associations and colour still important for creating purity and beauty in the garden.

Less is more on mix of planting and species.

More emphasis on shrub and perennial planting than on annuals and instant colour.

Planting for the long term effect.

“Slow gardening” with careful thought and planning on plant associations and colour (“for tomorrow not today”) rather than instant effect.

Tree planting both ornamental and fruiting.

Heritage fruit trees.

Meadow or Prairie planting still an important influence on colour and design using appropriate planting for the right soil and region.

Wild life gardening – preservation and protection of natural habitats for bird, butterfly and insect life. Creating wild life sanctuaries for protected species and rare wildlife.

Recycle where possible everything that can be used in the garden – painted old furniture, make planters out of buckets and “brocante  finds”. Rust is “in”!

All things wood – natural and sustainable garden furniture, containers.
All things metal – galvanised or painted – furniture, watering cans containers.
All things terracotta and stone rather than plastic.
Traditional looks integrated into contemporary design.
All things vintage - 50’s 60’s and now 70’s.    

Open air rooms and space around the home and into the garden .
Terraces, patio areas for seating and dining but closer to the garden itself.
Natural stone and landscaping to bring the garden closer to the home.
Natural chic and contemporary furniture using sustainable materiels.
Open views from the windows into the garden

Less pretention and extravagance on view. More restraint and discretion in the outdoor decorative accessories and furniture.
Genuine design and quality.
Careful reproduction of classical iconic design.
Old and new integrated in a natural and informal

COLOUR & STRUCTURE OUTSIDE 2010

Colour in the garden will relate to planting and floral colour.
Greens in all their glory – shrubs, trees and hedging as background structure with strong contrasts between brights and darks for flower colour.

Still going strong for 2010 are Dahlias and late summer flowering perennials,Tulips, roses and big impact flowering shrubs in strong bright colours offset with softer foliage planting – ferns, grasses and silver foliage planting.
Reds, purples and bronzes, dark oranges are still looking good from 2009 but darker shades and tones.
Height is important, and large specimen planting with  blocks of same species planting for big colour impact.
Linear interweaving of planting to create flowing lines, from front to back of borders will help create the colour blocks of rich and dark contrasts, with a strong emphasis on evergreen structural planting – hedges, shrubs and trees.
Less rigidity of straight lines, more curves and softer lines in hard landscaping and design.
Use of natural materials for hard landscaping : wood and stone rather than metal and concrete- a more natural look.
Tradition and hand crafted solutions for walls and paths.

COLOUR & DESIGN INSIDE 2010

Textile, paintwork, furniture, China and Glass

Black and White. Positive –Negative. Classic contrast for simplicity and definition-

Ceramics and textiles. Pattern and floral /foliage inspired designs are back for both textiles and ceramics.

Vintage designs from the 50’s to 70’s influence the colours throughout the home.

Colours

Naturals: light browns, wood and nut, pale greys and cream whites.
Strong naturals: saffron yellow, brick and pillar-box red, chocolate and pewter black
Greens and blues and their opposites: Turquoise sea blue, with ivy green, primrose yellow caught with dark blue. Subdued and subtle shadowy colours.
Strong Brights but no sugar pastels.

Silver, chrome and glass colours, transparent qualities and light reflective.

Ethnic natural fibre dyes. African hand crafted design work and textiles becoming noticeable influence on furniture and decorative products. Hand woven products and crafted traditional designs.

Textural surfaces in glass, metal or plastic surfaces.

Contemporary designs for furniture, tableware and lighting take on an avant-garde look but that actually reflects Bauhaus and vintage iconic design.

Natural woods for all household products – furniture, containers, kitchen and flooring.

For more information email catriona@catrionamclean.com or telephone 00334 67 66 31 08.