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Much like the new and expanded expectations for their home’s interiors, clients are calling on their outdoor spaces to perform more functions than ever before, from a second living room to a party pad to a hydrotherapy spa. In response, designers are eagerly taking up the challenge, crafting backyards, gardens, terraces, and pool decks that can satisfy diverse needs without sacrificing aesthetics. At the same time, as natural disasters have put climate-resilient design at the forefront of industry discourse, our at-home landscapes can play another critical role: a first line of defense.

AD PRO’s first member-exclusive trend report of 2025 is a definitive guide to beautiful, elevated outdoor design that is also future-proof, fireproof, and beneficial to both humans and the environment. Supported by trend analysis, expert reporting, and insights from AD’s extensive network of designers from around the globe—including AD100 talents, AD PRO Directory members, and landscape specialists—it offers advice, investigation, and predictions about the outdoor living topics that matter today, and will be even more important tomorrow. From designing for the outdoor sauna craze to exploring a rewilded garden to the trending furniture, lighting, and accessories Directory members recommend sourcing now, this report is essential to an informed designer’s next outdoor project. We advise you dive right in.

Plus, AD PRO Asks:

• What’s the outdoor wellness amenity all your clients want in 2025? And is rewilding right for you?

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AD PRO Directory experts curate collections of their go-to outdoor products

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Outdoor Design Forecast 2025 | Trend Talks

AD100 designers Sara Zewde and Oliver Freundlich share the ecological decision-making shaping their practices now in this AD PRO LIVE virtual event

As climate change transforms our environment, North America’s fire season—traditionally beginning in the spring and peaking in early fall—may well become a daily condition. After all, some three wintry months into 2025, fires have already devastated communities throughout California, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Maryland, Tennessee, Colorado, and currently New York. Aging energy infrastructure, invasive grasses, and our propensity to develop land in fire-prone regions are literally adding fuel to these flames.

A recent survey estimated that 84% of those fires currently costing tens of thousands of North Americans their homes—and all of us billions of tax dollars to support the firefighting—are caused by humans. This is not a drill: The reality and risk of fires must be taken seriously and mitigating them can and should be part of design practice. But how? AD PRO spoke to landscape experts across the United States for recommendations that start in the garden.

First, reduce existing risks. “We have clients attracted to properties in rural locations because they’re beautifully set in nature,” says Mike Albert, principal of Design Workshop in Aspen, Colorado. But that beauty isn’t always safe. “One of the most important steps in a landscape design is eliminating fire hazards,” says Max Martin of AD100 firm Geoponika, “particularly by removing fire ladders—dense vegetation that can carry flames toward a structure.” Overgrown or parched shrubs, for example, can quickly combust and transfer blazes to neighboring trees. So, too, can a wood deck. “It’s important that you clear the vegetation around the base of a deck,” Albert says. “You can imagine properties on hillsides where the fire is coming up the hill, the brush is on fire, and it goes right up the deck.”

Thus, risk mitigation is all about location. “[Plantings] can transmit fire very quickly if they’re spaced too close to structures, planted in large groupings without breaks, or without at least six feet between the bottom of the tree canopy and the top of the shrubs underneath,” explains Adam Kober, president and creative director of Newport Beach, California–based landscape studio Kober Design Group. Whenever possible, “tree groupings should be kept at three to five per grouping and with at least twenty feet between them,” he says. “Additionally, six feet spacing should be kept between large shrub beds.” Thinking critically about modifying existing landscape design, or conceiving new plantings, to meet these standards is a good way to potentially fell those fire ladders.

As we’ve learned the hard way, fire knows no borders, and neither should fire prevention. “Fires can be slowed down considerably from making their way onto a property if zones outside the property are cleared or thinned of dead and/or dying plant material, tree litter, and other debris,” Kober says. “Working with your neighbors and local authorities to clean up these zones can greatly reduce fire risk.” For everyone.

What you plant can be as important as how you maintain it, and local is always better. “I think the idea of cultivating something that shouldn’t be where it is and requires overwatering or heating in the middle of winter is so ridiculous,” says AD100 landscape designer Grace Fuller Marroquin. These species, often imported from other environments to satisfy clients’ lush aesthetics, can be dangerous in a fire. “Plants that are susceptible to burning due to rough or peeling bark, or that contain oils, wax, or resin, should be avoided,” Kober advises.

Instead, Albert says, you might explore “simple plantings that, in wintertime, die back all the way to the ground.” Such options reduce the chance of brush fire—or at least decelerate it. “Native, drought-tolerant plants that retain moisture, like succulents and certain broadleaf species, can also help slow the spread,” notes Martin.

Designers agree that this is the right path towards risk mitigation. But it’s also just a good idea— period. “It’s important to think about endemic species and what would naturally occur,” Fuller Marroquin says. “What takes the least from the landscape and provides the most—in terms of shelter, or pollinator food, or habitat for wildlife?” Plantings that seek to address these questions don’t have to privilege protection over beauty. “It may take a minute to retrain your eye for it,” she adds. “But when a client says, ‘I want to keep my property safe from fire and be mindful about water and energy, but I want something green and lush and colorful’—it’s just [about] different textures, foliage, and plant varieties.”

A strategic garden scheme can be a first line of defense against fire. “The most critical aspect of fire risk management is establishing a strong, defensible space around the home,” says Martin, “so if the fire does threaten the property, the design of the landscape itself can help.” Fuller Marroquin says she’s seen clients build large, steel firewalls around perimeters. “Pathways, driveways, and other hardscape surfaces are a great way to break up shrub beds,” Kober says. Such strategies don’t necessitate great expanses of blank metal or concrete, however. “We’re seeing property owners create a kind of gravel border around their home, and that can be a struggle because it doesn’t often conjure up images of something very beautiful,” Albert says. “But if you select a dark gravel, the tone can basically disappear.”

Anecdotally, some designers are seeing a shift from flammable status symbol materials like teak. Wood isn’t necessarily a should-not, though—mass timber, for example, can be surprisingly resistant to fire. And traditional techniques like xeriscaping have never been more timely. “We’ve been working with it for a long time, due to our love and expertise in cacti and succulents, as well as California native plants,” says Martin. As usual in landscape design, it’s all about the balance. “There’s a fine line between ensuring proper plant spacing for fire safety, maintaining sufficient irrigation, and providing enough shade to mitigate the heat island effect, while keeping the space comfortable and private,” he continues. And then there are municipal and insurance requirements. “You should have an open dialog with your insurance carrier to review plans, and maybe invite them to come to the property,” says Albert, “because the last thing you want is for them to show up after the design is done and tell you to remove all sorts of vegetation.”

—Annabel Keenan

From coast to coast, new gardens are looking increasingly wild—almost as though they naturally grew that way. For a recent home in New England, AD100 landscape firm Reed Hilderbrand used Mother Nature as muse, planting native sugar maple, dogwood, hawthorn, and beech trees, plus over 20 species of ground cover. Once the half-acre garden is established, it will change with the seasons and blend in with the surrounding tree canopy. The approach is part of a larger culture shift in landscape, says Meg Griscom, a Boston-based senior associate at the firm. “People are starting to see that thinking about resources is important,” and they are open to designs that reflect it.

To create long-lasting, visually exciting, and easy-to-maintain gardens, pros increasingly rely on a philosophy of climate-resilient design. In practice, this means choosing drought-tolerant native plants, welcoming more biodiversity on site, and expressing seasonal change. While proposing an environmentally sensitive garden was radical a decade ago, it’s becoming par for the course today. “We’re seeing this become something that's important relative to climate change, but it’s also just proving to be wise based on performance,” says Griscom, referencing the higher success rate of new plantings.

Nick Spain, founder of Brooklyn-based interiors and landscape practice Studio Nick Spain, agrees that resilient design is simply practical. “When you have six inches of standing water flooding your basement every spring, it’s easier to understand the importance of a good drainage plan and bioswales,” he says. “Alternatively, after six weeks of no rain in mid-summer, you can physically see why a certain rose you loved might need to be reconsidered as it begins to wither and die.”

Californian AD100 landscape firm Terremoto has always emphasized drought-tolerant and waterwise plantings. But through the years, it has redefined its low-impact designs to encompass the full life cycle of a project, from design to construction and maintenance. Instead of demolishing a site and building anew, “we are more interested in a layering approach and the reuse and reimagining of existing materials,” which reduces a project’s carbon footprint, says Story Wiggins, a partner in Terremoto’s San Francisco office. “It's offering more than just a lower water bill; it’s also a connection to place and site and the wildlife of your area.”

In 2016, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author and biologist E.O. Wilson wrote a book called Half Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, which outlines the need to preserve more natural landscapes for the purpose of maintaining biodiversity. This call for balance inspires Terremoto’s client recommendations. “If you think of every little project as that in miniature, you can make space for other kinds of life,” Wiggins says.

For a recent residential project on a three-acre site in California, Terremoto created what Wiggins calls a “jewel box,” a small fenced-in area with a swimming pool, outdoor kitchen, projector for movie nights, and concentrated plantings. The studio is passively restoring the rest of the site into grassland. Seasonally, a maintenance company removes invasive plants so that the native seeds, latent in the soil, have room to thrive. It’s work that will take decades to fully realize, but because of the greater sense of ecological responsibility and less required maintenance over time, the client agreed. “It’s a win-win,” Wiggins explains. “If you make some beautiful, hospitable space for humans, most people are game to let the rest go back to nature.”

Finding the right ratio of wilder, biodiverse, and conventional landscape for each client is key, says Denver-based landscape architecture practice Superbloom. For a family with young children in Denver suburb Golden, the studio designed a drought-tolerant yard that bursts with purple Russian sage and switchgrass and integrates existing rock features. Small lawns in the front and back yards offer areas for the kids to play, but the majority resembles a wild meadow a few blocks away from the house. Children “are going to be 18 sooner than you think” says Diane Lipovsky, who cofounded the firm with Stacy Passmore and encourages thinking about gardens in the long term.

In many cases, the conversation about climate-resilient garden design is actually about change and adaptation—and making clients comfortable with these concepts. “Native or water-wise landscapes are dynamic,” Lipovsky says. “Every season is different. It's probably never going to look the same.” To help set expectations, Superbloom creates painterly sketches that illustrate the array of plants and pollinators clients can expect to see in dry and wet years.

The definition of resilient landscape design is also continually being reevaluated. “Because we have really started to live with the impacts of climate change, it’s about how we absorb the shock,” Passmore says. In addition to selecting native plants and trees, they think critically about where they place them to avoid exposing homes or people to increased risk.

Within this approach, there is significant room for aesthetic interpretation. Spain notes that it’s not just meadows and shaggy lawns. “Things start to get really exciting when you begin to consider how some of these ideas can be executed within the constructs of, say, a traditional paradise garden, or to imagine a formal parterre scheme inspired by Russell Page that only uses native annuals,” he says. “So many different kinds of ecologically minded beauty are possible, you just have to go out there and create yours.”

“We’re really rigorous in initial conversations about what the client wants,” says Lipovsky. Often it comes down to cost. “We’ll ask, what are you spending on your water bill right now, and what do you want it to be?”

Terremoto, which generally works with clients interested in gardens with a wilder aesthetic, inquires about the relationship clients want with their site.

“Everyone has their own comfort level with nature and we tailor our designs to that,” says principal Wiggins. “It’s funny—some people will say, ‘I love a pollinator garden, but I don’t like bees.’” To address this, the team sets aside space that is “safe and enclosed,” Wiggins adds. “Usually near the house it'll be a bit more resource intensive.”

But in the end, resilient landscapes just make sense. “At the risk of sounding like a proselytizer, everyone should be considering this,” says interior and garden designer Spain. There is no situation where this isn’t applicable or where it shouldn’t be considered—from rooftops to backyards to big estates.” —Diana Budds

We asked five AD PRO Directory talents (Rydhima Brar of R/terior Studio, Sasha Adler, Melanie Raines, Damon Liss, and Ashley Ross of Muse Noire Interiors) to help us wade through the best in new and vintage outdoor decor. Whether you’re seeking a sculptural fireplace, candy-hued servingware, or good-looking furniture that can withstand the elements, you’re sure to find something that will elevate any outdoor oasis.

Rydhima Brar of R/terior Studio grounds Californian cool with her Middle Eastern and Indian roots, resulting in spaces equal parts chill and chic.

Sasha Adler specializes in historical restorations, delicate details, and sumptuous materials out of Chicago.

Los Angeles– and Austin-based Melanie Raines cut her teeth at Soho House, and accordingly has a keen eye for luxurious design details.

After more than 20 years in Tribeca, Damon Liss draws creative inspiration from his New York City neighborhood’s raw materiality.

In North Carolina and Texas, Ashley Ross of Muse Noire Interiors curates authenticity in outdoor spaces and design nooks alike.

No matter the size of a client’s garden, making use of every inch feels more important than ever, supported by the proven wellness benefits of spending time outside. Following prevailing interior trends, flexibility is key in outdoor spaces, which are often called upon to do double or triple duty to support relaxation, gathering, dining, and more. Whether a home has the square footage to host a compact urban backyard or a sprawling landscape, there are ways to artfully and organically integrate a client’s outdoor needs. Here, design and construction experts explain how.

Instead of trying to impose a long list of functions onto small green spaces, “prioritize what is most important,” says Molly Sedlacek, founder of Los Angeles–based landscape studio and AD PRO Directory member ORCA. She recommends cataloguing your client’s wants and then mapping out the square footage needed to help decide what should take precedence.

When you are working with limited space, introducing a change in elevation can make petite gardens feel larger, says Sedlacek. For a 570-square-foot backyard in San Francisco, ORCA sunk a fire pit into a raised area where steps double as seating. Plantings can also help organize different zones. Creating “garden rooms” gives the desirable experience of being enveloped by nature, she adds.

It’s a sentiment shared by Michal Kapitulnik, principal at San Francisco–based landscape architecture firm and AD PRO Directory member Surfacedesign. Layering plants with dramatic structural form creates “a sense of enclosure” for smaller program areas, she says. Playing with materials and textures, too, can create the illusion of depth in a compact space.

If much of an outdoor space is exposed to the elements, integrating shading and heaters increases the flexibility for when it can be used, explains Gareth Mahon, partner at New York–based RKLA Studio Landscape Architecture. On terraces and rooftops, Mahon has also seen an increased demand for wellness amenities, including hot tubs, saunas, and cold plunges, which can help conjure the feeling of an oasis within a small footprint.

Strategic planting and furniture selection are vital for optimizing such spaces. “Know what plants will grow large and do the most work in terms of screening, providing shade, and adding beauty—all while limiting the size of the planters that they live in,” says Mahon. Scale is an important consideration for furnishings too. Oversized pieces, or too many of them, can negatively “affect the feel and flow” of a small space, he adds.

When acreage is not an issue, careful design is still paramount. Larger projects require the creative delineation of different outdoor areas, says Kapitulnik, whether through soft planted thresholds or architectural devices. This method helps define a sequence of varied spaces—forming a journey through the garden and creating moments of discovery, privacy, and sociability.

For a more than five-acre project in Sonoma, California, Surfacedesign integrated a feeling of “cinematic procession” through the garden, describes Kapitulnik. “That sense of variation and adventure as you're moving through the garden keeps it exciting, but also gives you the opportunity to have the garden flex to accommodate different numbers of people—so it never feels empty.”

A swimming pool presents both opportunities and challenges for its surrounding space, where safety and aesthetics must be considered. To maximize its use, design firms are increasingly folding a variety of functions into the poolside area, from outdoor kitchens to fire pits.

In Arizona, “pools are an absolute must because of the hot summers,” says Brad Leavitt, president of Scottsdale-based company A Finer Touch Construction. For a recent home project in the state in collaboration with CW Architecture, TheLifestyledCo, and CF Design, the builder constructed a sleek infinity pool surrounded by plantings, seating, a fire pit, outdoor kitchen, and a sheltered outdoor entertainment area. The latter connects seamlessly to an indoor lounge through large, glazed retractable doors, blurring the inside-outside boundary. Similarly designed windows allow the indoor bar to open to the poolside area, functioning for both spaces. “Large corner multisliders and pass-through windows are a must on almost every project,” says Leavitt.

In smaller gardens, the pool itself can be a space-saving trick. “If you need entertaining space but don’t have tons of room, you can raise the pool up 14 inches and widen the edge,” says AD100 architect Barbara Bestor. “Then you have a great seating area for 50 people or so.” A well-designed outdoor space can even extend the party. —Francesca Perry

First impressions matter—at least as far as a home’s color palette goes—and designers should be just as concerned with the hues outside as with those inside. “A home should tell a cohesive story, and the story begins from the moment you arrive,” explains Casey Keasler of AD PRO Directory studio Casework Interiors. With spring unfolding, homeowners will have outdoor entertaining and lounging more and more top of mind. How well do their interior and exterior spaces interact? If the connection could be stronger, the easiest solution is to turn to color.

“Living in California, a home’s exterior is like additional square footage,” says designer and AD PRO Directory member Michael Hilal. “When working with a landscape designer, we will often present the interiors to them so they have a strong grasp on the tones and the color palette we are aiming for.”

To create a thoughtful design that continues as soon as you step onto the terrace, patio, or pool deck, we asked three experts share their tips for planning a backyard color scheme, and the four shades to use now for the best inside-out results.

When considering an exterior space’s look and feel, never start from scratch. The existing natural landscape should be your primary guide. “I always take into context where the home is,” Keasler says. “This includes existing plant life and anything that may be added.”

To complement the tree canopy of Portland, Oregon, or the arid landscape of Tucson, Arizona, Keasler adjusts her palette accordingly, pulling environmental colors and textures into an alfresco dining or living space. “I love using rich browns, inky blues, or olive greens as a foundation. Then I like to bring lighter and darker values as a contrast for balance,” she says. “Remember black and white, like for cars, are the highest maintenance colors to bring outdoors because they will show dust and dirt the fastest.”

Another way to build cohesion is to swatch interior hues that can be spotted from the garden. “If you have a navy room that’s visible from the outside, you can think of the window as a frame into it,” Hilal explains. “In this case, I’d think about whether or not there are hardscapes, plants, or furnishings to complement it.”

To honor the surrounding landscape, keep your overarching color scheme simple and leave experimentation to the accessories. “I definitely want to bring the feel from the indoors to the outside, but I generally tend to keep it a bit more one-note so that the natural surroundings aren't drowned out,” says Summer Thornton, president and creative director of AD PRO Directory firm Summer Thornton Design. All three experts recommend starting with a nature-inspired base and keeping bolder pops limited to details.

“I love a bright pink outside as an unexpected and playful note,” Thornton continues. “I also love to play with an umbrella in a beautiful shape and color. It can be the main statement of an outdoor space.”

She adds that more personality can be found in vintage pieces, just as long as you’re comfortable leaving them outside. “[New] outdoor furniture can look so sterile and suffer from sameness,” she says. “A salvaged piece, like a faux-bois side table or even old cast-iron planters, can really help.”

Painting the entire exterior of a home to coordinate with its interior isn’t always necessary. But if you are going for a fresh coat to better define the backyard’s design, Hilal advises picking shades that will effortlessly coordinate with what’s already under the sun.

“Right now, I like Farrow and Ball’s Dove Tale or Backdrop’s Interior Motives; they’re still neutral and a departure from gray with taupe undertones,” Hilal says. “Alternatively, Backdrop’s Harvest Moon is a warm white that has just a hint of yellow, and Farrow and Ball’s Salt is crisp with gray and brown undertones.”

Hilal suggests painting large swatches on the side of the home beside any outdoor living spaces to see how each option interacts with the environment—and noting the differences throughout the day, and even at night. “Whatever you don’t love can be painted over,” the designer says.

Alternatively, a pergola, reclaimed furnishings, and even pots for plants can be painted to reinforce a backyard palette. Whatever the design plans may hold, be sure they encourage your clients to get outside. “Outdoor space is such a premium,” says Hilal, “so make sure you are taking full advantage of it.” —Kelly Dawson

While the pursuit of physical fitness might be a worthy endeavor, in most cases, the home gym has not been a design highlight—but experts say that attitude about these spaces is changing.

“I don’t think anyone’s hiding this stuff in the garage or basement anymore,” comments AD PRO Directory member Vanessa Alexander of Alexander Design, who has incorporated high-design fitness areas in homes for clients and her own family. “Ideally, you’re celebrating wellness as part of your everyday lifestyle. These areas are becoming more beautiful by integrating them into the landscape and hardscape as an extension of indoor-outdoor living.”

If 2024 was the year of the cold plunge, 2025 is the year of outdoor wellness, for good reason. “Wellness, in general, is more effectively achieved with a close connection to natural light, garden, and ventilation,” explains architect Grant Kirkpatrick, a founding partner at multidisciplinary AD PRO Directory firm KAA Design. In addition to moving outside, clients are now calling for at-home facilities that resemble “resort treatment and spa centers, complete with hot and cold vessels, sauna and steam, and various hamam amenities of all sorts,” he continues. To design them, a holistic approach and early identification of “exactly what the client needs and requires” are key, says Newport Beach, California–based landscape designer Adam Kober. “The fun part is when we can put in all the bells and whistles and make it better than they expected.”

So how to navigate this growing checklist? There’s the nitty-gritty complexity of accounting for multiple systems, plus budgeting in advance so that landscape and wellness aren’t afterthoughts. “If people are phasing work, it’s important to think about these goals ahead of time,” especially when running electricity and plumbing, Alexander says. “It’s way harder and more invasive to do that later.” Kirkpatrick points to specific factors that require intensive advance site and infrastructure planning, like mitigating moisture and humidity concerns from sauna and gym adjacencies, addressing acoustic issues, or carefully considering the placement of separate buildings to assure both privacy and access for trainers and guests. (KAA has even designed a pool, gym, and spa beneath an existing tennis court on a hillside property.)

While some wellness rooms, equipment, and amenities are highly specialized, others can be multipurpose to maximize their square footage. Platforms and pavilions, typically used for meditation, yoga, alfresco exercise, and even massage tables, should be gracefully integrated into site planning schemes, says Alexander. They are also an opportunity “to create moments that draw people into different areas of their property, making the entire landscape feel intentional and lived-in,” she reflects.

Kober has become adept at masquerading equipment as landscape features. “I like to soften everything. I almost always go back to high hedges to build the framework of the space,” he advises. “Shrubs are like the base molding, so it’s not a vertical surface hitting a horizontal surface. I create layers.” Going from a private gym to swimming laps mere steps away sounds dreamy, but Kober remains mindful of less romantic aspects. In other words, a pool deck with an ill-chosen, slippery-when-wet surface can be disastrous. “First and foremost, it’s got to be functional and safe,” he states.

Manufacturers are also ready to meet the growing demand for treatments and tools, and to elevate them far beyond a standard fiberglass hot tub. Hydro Systems recently introduced an outdoor collection of hybrid hot and cold tubs that deliver contrast therapy in a single unit; ThermaSol offers a high-design modular Finnish sauna (with optional changing room, terrace, and soaking tub extensions). Kohler’s confidence in this category recently prompted the company to bring saunas by German manufacturer KLAFS to the US domestic market for the first time; the Taras free-standing unit appears to have the formidability of a bank vault combined with elegantly proportioned wood-and-glass detailing and state-of-the-art technology. The prospect of a long, restorative soak in a wood-burning, red-cedar-clad Goodland hot tub will motivate many to grab an axe and start splitting logs. The Canadian brand will soon ship its new cold plunge too. Like Hydro Systems, these units are self-contained and don’t require pre-plumbing.

The rise of outdoor wellness has also prompted a new era of the backyard party, where gatherings might include a hydrotherapy circuit rather than the typical pool deck sunbathing or hot tub dip. Such communal rituals are already common practice in cultures with robust bathing traditions, but newer in private American spaces. Some are eager to get on board. “It’s become a social experience,” Alexander shares. “At our house, we have friends over, and we'll take a sauna and cold plunge, then crack a bottle of rosé and have lunch.” —Jessica Ritz