John Gabriele marks the ongoing and upcoming trends in Australian landscaping.
Every new year brings fresh opportunities, a sense of renewal, and the promise of prosperity. The landscape industry, like many others, is influenced by societal trends. In 2025, rapid changes are expected, and landscape contractors and designers will need to be agile and adapt quickly to the dynamic shifts that will shape the sector.
Extreme landscapes
If there’s one thing front and centre in the eyes of the industry and the population at large, it’s the ever-present threat of climate change impacting our everyday lives. The good news is that out of adversity opportunity rises. Extreme weather events have plagued us over the past few years, from fires to floods and every weather extreme in between. Many of these impacts often occur at the local level and landscape contractors have had to pivot on short notice, not to just to save their inventory, but to ensure the welfare of their employees and the integrity of the sites they have been developing. Havinga plan ‘B’ is paramount to ensure ongoing business success, but thinking ahead of the curve is also necessary in uncertain times.
Resilience and reuse
One thing landscapers are good at is designing landscapes that provide solutions to help combat the environmental issues we are all faced with. To that end the trends that have driven design concepts in the past three years will remain relevant in 2025. Sustainable, low-carbon, environmentally sympathetic design will remain at the forefront of the industry. An emphasis of good landscape design in the future will be the ability to build resilience in projects, noting increasingly frequent severe weather events and natural hazards as a major consideration.
As governments at all levels introduce policies to assist with the impacts of climate change and for greater sustainable resource management and support for the circular economy, the utilisation of a proportion of recycled materials where appropriate in project design and construction will also continue to grow. Adaptive resource management across all sectors of the landscape-construction industry will provide the platform for reduction of energy inputs and minimise reliance on virgin materials extraction. Landscapes constructed with reused or repurposed materials are not limited to smaller residential applications. Large commercial installations can utilise recycled or repurposed products just as effectively.
Ambitious, but worthwhile
Another continuing trend is the use of native plants, particularly endemic species, in landscapes.
Strong population growth and the subsequent housing demand has put pressure on the natural environments that are being turned over to urban development. This in turn is fuelling the demand for even more environmentally sensitive design and will see the trend for native plant selections in urban and commercial installations continue to grow well into the future. The loss of canopy associated with major infrastructure and urban development is driving policy change at the national, state and local-government level in terms of canopy cover requirements as part of the strategy to reduce the urban heat-island effects, improve overall aesthetics and provide green corridors for native fauna impacted by the loss of habitat.
The installation of green walls, green roofs and facades will dominate cityscapes, and research in Europe by Cecil C. Konijnendijk is gaining traction across the globe. Konijnendijk presents new guidelines for urban greenspace planning known as the ‘3-30-300 rule’ for urban forestry. The aim of the rule is to have at least three (3) well established trees in sight of every residence, school and workplace, no less than 30% tree canopy in every community and no more than 300m from every residence to the nearest public greenspace. ‘Ambitious goals,’ you may say, but ones that bring significant opportunity to the landscape sector.
Broader goals
An integrated approach to sustainable landscape design and thinking beyond the boundaries of the site under construction are also going to be necessary when it comes to developing sustainable, environmentally sensitive landscapes that increase access to greenspace and liveability for our communities. This type of approach can enhance and support broader environmental goals and assist in limiting the impacts of climate change in the immediate locality, while also providing benefits on a macro level. For more details on the benefits of tree canopy and plants generally in our urban landscapes, review the article in Landscape Contractor magazine from January/February 2024 Being Green is Staying Clean.
Digging deeper
Soil health has become a hot topic as the importance of soils to sustain human life, animals and plants becomes increasingly critical. The importance of soil management cannot be overstated as focus shifts from managing soils for crop production in agriculture to the role soils play in water quality, climate change and human health. As you know, soils ain’t soils, and managing soils in urban landscapes is just as critical as in agricultural applications.
The National Soil Action Plan 2023-2028 is Australia’s first national policy on soil and the strategy outlines three important goals that can be readily implemented by the landscape industry, they are:
1. Prioritise soil health
2. Empower soil innovation and stewards
3. Strengthen soil knowledge and capability.
While these goals are broad, they are applicable in any setting and the landscape industry has as much responsibility and accountability for the preservation of soils as any other industry sector. This is particularly important on environmentally sensitive sites where careful management of topsoil and subsoil is a critical aspect of sustainable landscape construction and management.
What’s the buzz?
In 2024, the significance of pollinators was acknowledged as vital to our survival. To raise awareness about the importance of insects, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) conducted an online poll to identify the country’s most popular insect. The bluebanded bee emerged as the winner. This little head-banger is the rock star of ‘buzz pollination.’ More importantly, the awareness raised by such a campaign has positively influenced public sentiment towards the ecological preservation of insects. This will continue to see an increase in the popularity of wild gardens and the use of pollinator plants and increased diversity of planting schemes in urban landscapes, particularly utilising Australian native-plant species.
Australian native plants have adapted over thousands of years to each region’s unique environmental conditions and the importance of native plants in landscapes as a source of habitat and food for pollinators will continue to surge with consumer awareness of the importance of both. This increased understanding of how our environment, both built and natural, must work hand in glove for the survival of multiple species, will drive the trends of landscape design and construction in 2025 and beyond. Outdoor spaces can be transformed by creating wild gardens using native plants and embracing a more natural design, altering landscapes into mini nature reserves that provide food, shelter and interest for wildlife. This can be one of the most rewarding ways for your clients to connect with nature and support biodiversity and environmental stewardship.
Future focus
The future of landscaping is all about creating spaces that connect people to nature. Whether it’s a small inner-city courtyard or a sprawling country estate, landscapes need to be sustainable, functional, beautiful, and resilient to climatic extremes. Designs will undoubtedly adapt to the changing environment, and the key for landscape designers and contractors is to find the best in every change. Additionally, trends like the implementation of smart technologies in landscape maintenance through robotics, automated irrigation and lighting will undoubtedly continue to influence consumers and the landscape industry.