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Your HomeOutdoor Feature Trends Growing In PopularityPosted: 4/29/2011 The most popular outdoor living and landscape features are also the most basic: light, fire, food and a place to sit. (NAPSI) - Whatever the economic climate, homeowners prefer landscape trends that let them make the most of the weather in their own outdoor space. A recent American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Residential Trends Survey asked residential landscape architecture professionals to rate the popularity of different outdoor living and landscape features. Today’s homeowners, the survey said, prefer function, efficiency and fire pits, choosing such basic features as light, fire, food and a place to sit and enjoy it all. Overall, 96.2 percent of respondents rated exterior lighting as somewhat or very popular for this year, followed by fire pits/fireplaces (94.2 percent), seating/dining areas (94.1 percent), grills (93.8 percent) and installed seating like benches or seat walls (89.5 percent). While the most popular outdoor features reflect an enduring sensibility, the interest in modern technology such as stereo systems (58.3 percent), Internet access (46.3 percent) and televisions (45.4 percent) adds to the growing trend of taking what people enjoy inside to the outdoors—up to a point. Only 10.4 percent of respondents thought outdoor sleeping areas would be popular this year. “Homeowners continue to reconnect with their outdoor space. However, expect many households this year to either phase in projects over time or carefully select fewer features,” said ASLA executive vice president and CEO Nancy Somerville. When it comes to landscape elements, efficiency and sustainability reign supreme. Very popular are low-maintenance landscapes (94.2 percent), native plants (87.2 percent), water-efficient irrigation (83.1 percent), ornamental water features (81 percent) and food/vegetable gardens (80.3 percent). Other popular sustainability features include permeable paving (77 percent), reduced lawn (72.6 percent) and rainwater harvesting (63.6 percent). More information can be found at www.asla.org/residentialinfo. |
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