Our landscapes and gardens are a natural extension of our home—and, in a way, our personality. Some things that make an appearance in a home’s landscaping might be called tacky, but only because they’re usually bright, bold, or quirky. We spoke with lawn and garden professionals to learn which “tacky” trends they all secretly love for the personality they bring to a home’s exterior spaces.
Lawn Flags
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Jennifer Yakey-Ault / Getty Images
Bright, colorful lawn flags might give off a more kitschy garden vibe, but they can also add whimsy and playfulness to your landscape. “I think when they are tastefully placed in a nice, upscale landscape, they can add a little bit of color and pop,” says Bryan Clayton, CEO of GreenPal.com. “I have a couple of customers who will change them out for a nice fall flag, a winter flag, a Christmas theme flag, an Easter flag, a spring flag, and a summer flag. It’s kind of a neat little way to dress up the landscape with a pop of color and personality without overdoing it.”
Re-Purposed Planters
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Bottles, cans, or old jars can definitely serve a purpose in housing your plants, but they also may look a little tacky out front. However, Chrissy Handley, a lawn care specialist with Online Turf, thinks that upcycling your recyclables in this way is a quirky, sustainable way to care for your plants and bring a rustic charm to your landscape. “For tin cans especially, you can hang them as they’re lightweight, taking up less space on your ground (which is always good for lawn health — the less clutter you have on the ground, the more sunlight and airflow your lawn gets),” she says.
Handley even says that she has seen people think outside the box a bit with the type of items they choose to upcycle into planters. “I’ve even seen people take it a step further with the ‘tacky’ look and re-use old teacups and saucers in their garden, either to use for seed starters or for smaller plants, giving a ‘baroque on a budget’ sort of vibe,” she says.
Shaped Hedges
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Overly manicured hedges that have been shaped into geometric shapes or other quirky designs, like animals or faces, could come off as ostentatious at best and poorly maintained at worst if they’ve been allowed to grow out. But, if they make you happy, then who’s to say it’s tacky? “I think they are great because they have personality,” says Steve Corcoran, CEO of Lawn Love. “They show that care has gone into making your yard exactly what you want it to be, and creating a specific shape out of a hedge is art.”
Bougainvillea
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Bougainvillea is a brightly colored flowering plant that thrives in tropical conditions and can make a big visual impact—possibly too much for some. “We often get requests for Bougainvillea to be planted in many landscapes,” says Ward Dilmore, founder and head landscape designer at Petrus – Luxury Estate Landscaping Company. “This plant has very loud, bright colors available, like hot pink, magenta, and red. It doesn’t often fit with many surrounding landscape designs, but its flowers are so striking and numerous that it is quite an unmatched statement in a garden.”
Dilmore notes that, due to the plant’s drought-resistant nature, it works with xeriscape designs commonly found in places like Arizona. But don’t rule it out in other locations if the plant is calling your name. “Elsewhere it can stand out quite a bit, but for the right landscape and the right place, it can be a stunning, brightly colored statement,” he says.
Pallet Trellises
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William Gaffigan / Getty Images
Pallet trellises were a popular garden feature in the 2010s but fell out of favor because they appeared messy or unfinished. But Handley loves them for their shabby chic, rustic charm. “You can use pallets to make a DIY flower or herb bed frame, or use them as a trellis to house climbing plants like ivy or roses, utilising vertical space in your garden,” she says. “These sorts of plants are perfect to envelop that rustic DIY vibe. You can sand, paint, and then secure it to a fence with nails for it to look integrated and purposeful.”
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