The Post-Pandemic American Yard: Spaces of Rest and Retreat

Yardzen’s 2025 Trend Report celebrates the evolving relationship between Americans and their yards, shaped by culture and the environment. This spring marks five years since the start of the pandemic, a moment that redefined how people live in their homes and outdoor spaces. During those early days, yards became essential for safe social gathering. Today, as the world has opened back up, our yards have taken on a new role as personal sanctuaries for rest, personal expression, and connection with nature.

In 2020 and 2021, Yardzen witnessed how green spaces became community lifelines. The “Social Front Yard” emerged, with front lawns turning into informal gathering spots for neighbors and friends. As outdoor areas became true extensions of the home, functionality took center stage, with homeowners looking for ways to maximize their yards for gathering.

Now, in 2025, Yardzen’s data, drawn from more than a million users, tells a new story. Americans are embracing their outdoor spaces with a fresh perspective, creating resilient retreats. We see this in a sharp increase in requests for privacy features, up 22% year over year, including fences, hedges and secluded garden areas. At the same time, demand for climate-responsive, regional landscapes is rising, as homeowners thoughtfully design yards mindful of fire, floods, droughts and extreme temperatures.

These trends point to more than just practical needs: they reflect a deeper cultural movement toward connection to the natural world. This evolution highlights the growing embrace of biophilic design, where nature is not just a backdrop, but a vital, integrated part of our daily lives, enriching through sensory experiences.

Looking ahead, the American yard is no longer simply a functional or decorative backdrop. It has become a true sanctuary, offering refuge in a changing world.

In 2025, more homeowners are designing their outdoor spaces as private retreats, with a 22% increase in privacy-driven features such as fences, hedges, and secluded outdoor zones. Privacy in 2025 is less about isolation and more about restoration. 

With the return of public life, many are rethinking how they use their homes, not as default gathering places, but as spaces to step away. Outdoor areas are being shaped to reflect that shift, with privacy taking on new importance.

Spending on fences is up 32% year over year, with homeowners choosing from wood, composite, and mixed-material options, as well as natural screens like tall hedges. These features are designed to be both functional and visually integrated with the landscape.

Privacy is increasingly achieved through layered planting—trees, shrubs, and groundcovers arranged to form natural enclosures that also support biodiversity. Layouts use berms, framed views, and angled seating to create small, defined areas for reading, and unwinding outside.

In 2025, the desire for privacy reflects a broader interest in designing homes—and landscapes—that support downtime, clarity, and personal space.

Biophilic design, rooted in humanity’s intrinsic need to connect with the natural world, is now foundational in outdoor design. In 2025, Yardzen’s data reflects the growing desire for outdoor spaces that prioritize biodiversity, sensory richness, and restorative experiences.

This shift is visible across biophilic design features. Pathways are up 24%, encouraging natural movement through landscapes and offering opportunities for exploration. Water features, up 23%, provide calming sounds and visual reflections that create tranquil atmospheres. Raised garden beds, up 21%, reflect a growing desire for hands-on engagement with plants and food, strengthening the bond between homeowners and the land. Fire elements, like outdoor fireplaces and fire pits, are up 19%, offering warmth and a strong emotional center around which to gather.

An important extension of this biophilic movement is a renewed appreciation for phenology—the subtle seasonal rhythms of local plants, animals, and weather patterns. Homeowners are increasingly interested in designing landscapes that highlight seasonal transitions, from early spring blooms to late-fall grasses and bare winter trees. By attuning outdoor spaces to the living calendar of the local environment, homeowners create yards that feel dynamic, alive, and deeply connected to place.

At its core, biophilic design is about creating spaces that feel natural, lived-in, and intentionally tied to the landscape—spaces that support everyday use while fostering a more meaningful relationship with the outdoors.

In 2025, there is a growing celebration of wildness, imperfection, and authenticity in outdoor design. Wabi-sabi aesthetics and cottage-style gardens are at the forefront of this shift, offering homeowners a meaningful alternative to cookie-cutter landscaping.

Requests for wabi-sabi–inspired designs have risen over 100% in the past year. This aesthetic embraces the beauty of imperfection: weathered wood, rusted metals, aged stones Rather than striving for flawless finishes, homeowners are choosing materials and layouts that feel organic and alive.

In parallel, cottage gardens have surged in popularity, with an 18% rise in requests, building on several years of growth. These lush, informal gardens invite exploration, weaving together fragrant flowers, climbing vines, and native species. They support pollinators and local biodiversity while creating spaces of whimsy, comfort, and emotional resonance.

Together, wabi-sabi and cottage garden styles represent a powerful cultural shift—an embrace of authenticity, creativity, and nature’s unpredictable, evolving beauty.

The Charlestone Paver by Belgard embraces the “beauty of imperfection” with the look of time-worn, weathered stone.

Edible gardening continues to gain popularity. Requests for raised garden beds are up 21%, reflecting growing interest in homegrown herbs, vegetables, and fruits.
Today’s edible gardens are designed with both form and function in mind. Raised beds are often paired with gravel paths, seasonal flowers, and even composting systems. They add texture and utility, while helping homeowners stay more connected to their outdoor space.

For many, growing food is about convenience and experience, an opportunity to engage directly with the land and enjoy the results. Whether it’s herbs by the kitchen door or a full summer harvest, edible gardening is becoming a central, integrated part of how people design their yard.

The traditional American turf lawn—once a symbol of uniformity and order—is steadily being replaced. Yardzen’s 2025 data shows a 13% decline in turf lawn requests, as homeowners embrace more sustainable, dynamic alternatives that conserve water, support biodiversity, and reflect the natural beauty of the environment.

Tapestry lawns, up 16%, combine low-growing, colorful groundcovers that require minimal mowing and offer seasonal interest. No‑mow meadows, featuring native grasses, have risen 12%, providing movement, habitat, and striking visual texture with little maintenance. 

This shift away from traditional turf reflects a broader cultural evolution: from valuing control and uniformity to celebrating wildness, movement, and ecological stewardship. In place of manicured lawns, homeowners are cultivating vibrant ecosystems, yards that are lighter on the land, richer in life, and more beautiful because they are alive and evolving.

Climate change and water scarcity are reshaping how Americans design their outdoor spaces. In 2025, requests for low-water and drought-tolerant landscapes are up 30%—evidence of a nationwide move toward water-wise, climate-adaptive design.

Just as homeowners are moving beyond traditional lawns, material choices are evolving, too: requests for gravel and permeable surfaces are up 6%, while concrete use has declined 13%, as more projects emphasize groundwater recharge and rainwater capture through sustainable hardscaping.

Drip irrigation systems, rain barrels, and smart irrigation sensors are increasingly common, ensuring that every drop of water is used efficiently. This trend isn’t limited to traditionally dry regions—it’s a national rethinking of how we steward one of our most precious resources. Water-wise landscapes today are not only beautiful—they are responsible, resilient, and crucial to future-proofing outdoor living.

Belgard’s permeable pavers are an excellent way to add hardscaping to your outdoor space while preserving groundwater and preventing pooling and runoff.

Regionalism, landscapes that are tailored to the distinct character of local climates, materials, and ecosystems, is a defining design ethos in 2025. As environmental stresses mount, homeowners are increasingly grounding their yards in the specificity of place.

The use of local stone and regional cobbles has surged by 22%. Plant palettes are becoming more climate-responsive, too. Drought-tolerant native plants are taking center stage, supporting local biodiversity and reducing resource demands.

Ultimately, regional design is about forging a relationship with the natural world around your home. It’s about designing yards that not only survive but thrive within local ecosystems, honoring natural patterns, and the need for resilient living. In 2025, regionalism isn’t a passing trend—it’s an essential strategy for creating enduring landscapes.

As wellness becomes a deeper cultural priority, outdoor spaces are evolving to support physical health, mental clarity, and emotional renewal. In 2025, wellness yards, carefully designed environments for rest and rejuvenation, are integral to how homeowners approach their landscapes.

Requests for outdoor showers are up 29%, blending daily rituals with the sensory pleasures of nature. Outdoor fitness spaces are up 15%  and interest in saunas and cold plunges continues to grow, up 8% and 9% respectively, reflecting an embrace of hydrotherapy and outdoor wellness practices.

Material choices in wellness yards favor natural textures—weathered wood, stone pathways, flowing water features—that promote tranquility and sensory engagement. These designs create peaceful, grounding environments where relaxation is not an afterthought but a central focus.

In 2025, the American yard is a vital, dynamic space that reflects cultural and environmental shifts. Outdoor spaces aren’t just for entertaining or curb appeal—they’re being designed as spaces of refuge, built to withstand a changing climate and help homeowners feel more connected to their surroundings.

Whether through private sanctuaries, biophilic designs, wabi-sabi aesthetics, drought-tolerant mosaics, regional design, or wellness-centered retreats, homeowners are reimagining their yards to meet the urgent demands of a changing world—and to nurture a richer, more grounded way of living.

Yardzen’s 2025 Trend Report captures this pivotal evolution, offering a window into America’s ever-changing relationship with the home.