That's why containers are cool, small spaces are big, and green living is as good for you as it is for the environment. Here are the trends local landscape experts are excited about for summer 2007:

    The latest garden containers look great on decks, patios, even in the garden, and you can move them whenever you want to ``redecorate'' your outdoor room.

    ``Even people who have a straight flower garden are excited about being able to move things around,'' says Jay O'Rourke of Bedford-based New England Nurseries. ``You get height, you can fool around with the number of containers you have, you can move them as the season changes. There are lots of options.''

    The ``new'' container gardening is a far cry from grandma's geranium-filled window boxes. Think groupings of containers and unusual combinations of hardy plants with annuals and perennials.

    Containers are also a perfect answer for aspiring vegetable and fruit gardeners with small spaces or poor urban soil. At Kennedy's Country Gardens in Scituate, Chris Kennedy is stocking the ``Earth Box,'' - a self-contained, self-watering container system.

    ``People can grow peppers in one box, tomatoes in another,'' Kennedy says. ``And when you do a little herb container, that's pretty neat too.''

    Summer is short here - don't you want to spend every moment of it outside? With sophisticated outdoor furniture, sound systems, fireplaces, even kitchen appliances, you can transform your yard into an ``outdoor room.''

    ``It's really fun to think about your yard that way, especially if you have a small yard,'' said Amy Van Doren of Mahoney's Garden Centers, who created two rooms in her own 40 x 40 foot yard using plants and boulders to define the spaces.

    Garden structures - pergolas, gazebos - are increasingly popular, and natural stone is hot terraces, patios and walls, according Nat Brown of New England Nurseries. ``When we do a patio, we do plantings or walls around them to give definition or privacy,'' he said.

    Want to cut down on chemicals, watering, and hard labor? It's as simple as working with the environment - not against it.

    ``There's an old axiom: `the right plant in the right place,'' Van Doren said. That means choosing drought-tolerant plants for dry areas, wetland plants for wet areas, and ``native'' plants (native to North America, or even New England).

    Northwest of Boston, where deer are nibbling away at expensive plantings, Brown says New England Nurseries is doing big business in Japanese maples, a naturally deer-resistant tree with endless varieties.

    Organic lawn and garden care are also part of the ``eco-chic'' trend. Kennedy's Country Gardens stocks several lines of natural lawn-care products, from soil-boosting organic chicken manure to weed-retardant corn gluten meal. ``It's more about feeding the soil and less about feeding the plants,'' Kennedy said.

    A big bonus of so-called ``sustainable'' landscaping: it's a lot less work for you.

    Flowers fade, but sophisticated gardeners keep their spaces gorgeous all season by combining interesting foliage textures and colors.

   ``You can't have plants blooming all the time,'' says Nat Brown. ``But if you can get variegated foliage, or something more lacy, with color and texture,'' you can have all-season interest