The Sunday Garden – Hot Garden Trend for 2026

      The key word for gardening in 2026 is “Lemonading” – creating a serene sanctuary – an escape from this chaotic, stressful world! Home owners are looking for easy maintenance, sustainability and a place to enjoy peace and quiet. Patios and porches are becoming true “outdoor rooms,” with comfortable, weatherproof furniture, lots of pillows, and an abundance of container plantings to soften hardscapes. Simple water features provide the soothing sound of water.

     Also called the “Sunday Garden,” this trending design focuses on simplicity and elegance, creating a garden easy to maintain with just a little tweaking on the weekend. Picture yourself after Sunday church, relaxing with a cup of tea (or lemonade) and a good book in your Sunday Garden on a peaceful afternoon.

Tips for Creating a Sunday Garden:

      Create structure with evergreens. Evergreen shrubs become the backbone of your garden and give not only structure but color in the winter months. Plant hedges of boxwood, camellia, or holly and add evergreen topiaries to help provide year-round interest.

    Embrace a narrow color palette. Choose flowering plants that are soothing and give a unified look. Faded pastels are “in” – white, cream, pale blue and soft pink.

     Add some romance and nostalgia with old-fashioned plants like ferns, hydrangeas and camellias. Fragrant plants, like rosemary, jasmine, and lavender, will also give a feeling of peace and serenity. Climbing roses provide not only color, and fragrance, but vertical interest and a sense of “days gone by.”

      Choose a few pieces of art and sculpture to enhance the mood. But remember, less is more. One or two classic pieces are all you need as focal points.

    Design intimate seating spots within the garden to encourage relaxation and outdoor living for the whole family.  

     Maintenance of the Sunday Garden can be much less time consuming if you choose easy-care plants conducive to our climate. Before planting in a garden bed, get a soil test to see what nutrients you need to add, and mulch beds after planting, for a unified look and to help retain moisture and cut down on weeds. For containers, use a quality potting mix and a slow-release fertilizer in the spring and summer to boost flower production.   

     Enjoy your Sunday Garden! And just maybe you will feel like an unknown author who wrote: “The garden is a quiet place where nature whispers and peace blooms.”