Update Your Garden and Patio with the Season’s Freshest Decor

Streamlined outdoor furniture, mini plants and log bowls (the name really doesn’t do them justice) are what’s in demand this season

Decked Out

Love It or List It Vancouver’s Todd Talbot is a huge fan of completing the urban patio with a floating wooden deck. “I love the wood look – I think it’s warm, inviting and West Coasty.” In fact, if Talbot had his way, Vancouverites would let go of the ugly, cold, concrete balcony and start making the most of their square footage pronto. Local outdoor flooring specialist Kandy Outdoor Flooring aims to do just that by extending the urban dweller’s liveable space with its deck tiles that float on top of any relatively flat surface without glue, grout or nails. Air circulates around the entire tile, and water and small debris fall through the cracks to keep the flooring surface clean, dry and rot-free. Because it’s not attached to the permanent structure, Kandy assures this balcony makeover won’t upset your strata council. Average cost $20 to $25 per square foot (includes installation fee).

Pint-sized Plants

The inner-city community garden is a trend feverishly moving onto the condo balcony thanks to the emergence of dwarf fruits and vegetables. According to KJM Country Gardens store owner Jordan McDonald, particularly popular is the ‘Raspberry Shortcake,’ a new line of container-sized bushes called Brazelberries that produce edible fruit and grow between two and three feet tall. $39.99 for a two-gallon raspberry pot. 

Log On

Blurring the line between indoor and outdoor decor, Alberta-made Loyal Loot Log Bowls merge two of the year’s hottest trends for outdoor living, according to Jennifer Scott of local design firm A Good Chick To Know: pops of intense colour (check!) as well as a literal representation of nature. Scott notes that log accessories aren’t exactly a new trend, but that Loyal Loot translates them into pieces that are functional. Handcrafted from trees that have fallen or have been felled in our neighbouring province, no two serving bowls are alike and come from reclaimed willow, ash, poplar and birch. Choose from any number of Loyal Loot’s high-gloss colours or custom-order a pigment.

$75-$335, available at Provide, 529 Beatty Street, Vancouver

The Hot Seat

In terms of patio furniture, streamlined and minimalistic is the trend du season. So when it comes to textiles, “This is where you can really have some fun,” says Vancouver landscaper Kari Renaud of Lily Design. Locals Gallant & Jones get fun and funky with their flirty sling-back deck chairs in a banquet of prints and colours for spring 2014. These chairmasters use white oak for the frames, specifically chosen because it is both water- and rot-resistant. And there’s a social good upside! With each deck chair purchased, Gallant & Jones will donate a tree to Love Trees, a children’s environmental education and tree-planting program.

$234-$435, available online only at Gallant & Jones