As our homes become more multifunctional spaces — and we're constantly bombarded with information through our screens — restorative outdoor areas where we can retreat to slow down and rejuvenate are becoming the go-to garden brief for landscape designers.
Taking cues from wellness gardens to outdoor offline rituals, there is a lot we can do to make a garden feel calmer. Look to engineer an all-sensory space that's tactile, organic, and inviting; creating a calming outdoor space that blends with modern concepts isn’t necessarily about minimalism either — it’s about intention.
From softened, zoned layouts to sensory planting, the most relaxing gardens are carefully composed to reduce visual noise and gently filter out the outside world. Need to press reset? Top designers and garden experts share their top tips to make a garden feel calmer. And exhale...
Article continues below1. Create Zoned Spaces and Subtle Privacy for a Sense of Escape
A softly zoned space allows you to feel safely enclosed without being claustrophobic.
The shift towards softer zoning reflects a broadening taste for modern ‘garden retreat’ layouts — spaces designed not just for entertaining, but also for slowing down and resetting.
Curved pathways, broken sight lines, and garden 'rooms' help create a feeling of retreat rather than exposure. By creating softly zoned areas, you avoid seeing the entire space at once, and the calm comes from gradual discovery.
The serene space by GRDN above was once purely concrete with no planting. It was turned into a sensory retreat for relaxing through a number of different processes.
"We introduced functional spaces that sit amongst lush layers of planting to maximize the square footage while maintaining a feeling of tranquility," explains Peter Robinson, Director, GRDN.
"You journey through the garden through a series of spaces, while blurring the lines between hard and soft landscape materiality with immersive, layered planting. Views are also restricted through different planting typologies to filter out the outside world and keep things harmonious and serene."
2. Choose Layered, Repetitive Planting That Reduces Visual Noise
Repeated planting, soft zoning, and subtle privacy all work in tandem to create a calming and beautifully restful space.
Repetition in garden design is not only the secret to an expensive-looking outdoor space, but it's also a green-thumbed trick to creating an instant sense of calm in your garden.
The repetitive, immersive planting approach aligns with the rise of naturalistic and meadow-style planting, where repetition and rhythm take precedence over bold, high-contrast displays.
A limited palette and repeated planting choices create cohesion, while layered greenery adds depth without overwhelming the space or your senses. Movement, through grasses or soft foliage, adds a subtle, calming rhythm.
This method goes hand-in-hand with soft zoning and subtle privacy to create the ultimate level of serenity in your outdoor space.
Speaking about the relaxing garden above, Natasha Nuttall, of Natasha Nuttall Garden Design, explains how she put it all into practice.
"In this garden, I used abundant, mostly evergreen planting in a 'layered tapestry' to separate the distinct areas, ensuring that each zone is surrounded and enveloped by planting, so that when you are in them, you feel immersed in greenery and nature, creating an oasis in a busy London area," she says.
"The height of the grasses and other plants creates a somewhat transparent screen to conceal the areas, with a pathway that leads you through the garden."
The path passes through a dining patio, past the kitchen and BBQ section, and onto a smaller outdoor seating area with a low table and sofa for coffee, working, or evening drinks.
"This area has a paved surface, which further creates the feeling of another 'room'," says Natasha, adding: "Lastly, you arrive at the generous built-in benches at the rear of the garden, which have a small pergola with climbing plants overhead for extra privacy. Continuity is provided by the use of harmonious colors and the repeated planting."
This Pacific Abierto Electric Roof Pergola from John Lewis has built-in LED lights and a waterproof, retractable roof.
3. Include Sensory Elements That Mask the Outside World
Sensory features like water fountains or troughs can help create a calming garden retreat.
There's a growing interest in sensory gardens and spaces designed to engage sound, touch, and movement as much as visual appeal.
Gentle water garden features, rustling planting, and even gravel underfoot help create a sensory buffer from the outside world.
"A simple visual connection with nature can provide stress relief, but thoroughly connecting with nature involves more than just looking outside," says Marci Bonner, of Richardson & Associates Landscape Architecture.
"Deep connection with nature can be experienced through all five major senses. Incorporating a focal element also gives the eye something to focus on in a hectic world. During the day, leaves on trees create dappled light patterns that can have a soothing, hypnotic effect."
She continues: "Hearing grasses rustle in the wind, or the subtle splash of a water feature, can create natural soothing music.
This Charles Bentley Cascading Garden Water Feature from Next will be sure to add serenity to your space.
"Planting fragrant species such as lavender, lilac, roses, or creeping thyme near gathering areas or between stepping stones allows people nearby to smell them," Marci adds.
Stepping onto a gravel path provides a satisfying crunch that contrasts with the solid surfaces typical of interior spaces, while the "fuzzy leaves of lamb's ear invite users to reach down and touch them," explains Marci.
And, of course, incorporating herbs and other edible plants allows us to experience spaces through taste, "whether it's mint or a snow pea", adds Marci.
4. Use Natural Materials That Soften the Space
Clay planters, rattan chairs, and wood furniture combine to create a calming, organic, and stylish garden.
Incorporating raw, tactile materials reflects a wider shift in outdoor design towards an aesthetic where finishes are chosen for how they age and feel, not just how they look.
Timber, stone, and gravel introduce texture and warmth, helping a garden feel grounded and cohesive. As opposed to overly polished finishes, a slightly weathered look feels more relaxing and less visually demanding, helping to create a calming garden space.
As well as using these materials in your hardscaping, choosing them for your outdoor furniture and decor is a simple step to create a relaxed vibe in a modern, organic-luxe way.
"What’s more interesting now is how we’re bringing indoor sensibilities out," says Victoria Sass, principal at Prospect Refuge Studio (who designed the chic space above). "We use small tables and floor lamps, rugs underfoot, and planters that feel just as considered as anything inside.
"We’ve come a long way in terms of design and functionality, so those elements don’t read as overtly ‘outdoor’ anymore. When you soften the space in that way, it starts to feel more natural, more lived-in — somewhere you can actually unwind and relax.”
This Roy Cocoon Chair from Heal's is the ultimate partner to your calming outdoor space.
Growing up in California and Minnesota, Victoria went on to pursue an architectural education in Copenhagen, Denmark. Following a decade in commercial design, she founded Prospect Refuge Studio. Specializing in residential interiors allowed her to draw inspiration from her past and channel the intimate and personal spaces that initially sparked her interest in design.
5. Introduce Soft Lighting That Creates Atmosphere
Use soothing, layered lighting to ensure your outdoor space is a space you can relax in as dusk falls.
Just as layered lighting is integral to creating ambience indoors, it's an equally important design trick for your outdoor living room.
It’s part of a growing preference for low-stimulation environments, where lighting, layout, and boundaries are all designed to feel gentle — an escape from the information overload of daily life.
Soft lighting, in the form of wall sconces, rechargeable table lamps, lanterns, festoon lighting, or even oversized pendants hung from a pergola, all work together to create a tranquil garden that you can truly relax in.
This Large Seagrass Candle Lantern from H&M will add warmth and texture to your peaceful space.
A sense of calm often comes from feeling "gently enclosed". Layered lighting, subtle garden screening, and well-positioned seating, as seen in the beautiful space by Jen Donnelly Garden Design above, create an atmosphere that encourages you to slow down and stay.
"A curved garden pathway leads to a firepit seating area that feels enclosed," says Jen Donnelly of the space. "Planting softens the edges and draws you to explore.
"I always try to bring planting closer to the house to break up a terrace and create zones — on large terraces and smaller ones. And gentle enclosure creates a sense of calm. Repetition of planting is also important to create a calm environment."
Jen graduated with Distinction from the prestigious London College of Garden Design. She's interested in creating gardens that really help people to use and enjoy their outdoor space – for socialising, relaxing, enjoying nature and getting day to day benefit from having their own beautiful place to enjoy.
Soft, warm materials and a backdrop of nature give this space ultimate calming vibes.
In many ways, the calming garden is a response to overstimulation — a space designed to restore that's also aesthetically pleasing.
In a move away from high-impact outdoor styling, today’s gardens are being shaped by a desire for something softer and more immersive. Rooted in biophilic design and sensory planting, the focus is on creating spaces that feel restorative, where every element is considered, and nothing feels overwhelming.
That's not to say it can't also be upscale, chic, and stylish — just in a more modern, organic way.
For more ideas, take cues from Scandinavian garden design with these three things a Scandinavian garden designer tells anyone who wants a calm, minimalist outdoor space. And for all the latest, subscribe to the Livingetc newsletter.