If you want your garden to be on-trend this summer, you need to turn things inside out and create an outdoor ‘living room’.

Think fire pits alongside sofas and lighting to extend the use of gardens into the evening.

Jane Thomas, who runs her own St Albans-based landscape and garden design business, says that clients are thinking differently about outdoor furniture too, with a move towards comfier seating areas.

On-trend garden dwellers are purchasing outside ‘sofas’ for relaxation on deep seating with cushions around a fireplace, though traditional table and chairs for dining alfresco are still popular.

Jane said: “People are moving towards using porcelain tiles outside, rather than paving slabs with crisp sharp lines to floor surfaces – again bringing inside outside.

“Lighting schemes are also becoming more important in the garden. LED technology is getting better and the controller can be worked using a smart phone and iPad, for example.

“There are loads of different lights to choose from. It would be worth having a lighting design for your garden.”

Water is also becoming more important in garden planning, with rainwater harvesting being incorporated as rainwater features.

Another current theme has seen garden designs that are sustainable but very aesthetically pleasing, according to Jane.

She said: “It has veered away from ‘formal gardens’ to a more wild, naturalistic look – rain gardens, wildflower turf borders, naturalistic planting. It’s now less about traditional bedding displays or full on border displays.”

www.janethomaslandscapes.co.uk.