What is Hardscaping?

When you see the yard of your dreams, what elements do you see? Likely, there are beautiful natural elements, such as carefully arranged flowers, vegetables and decorative plants. But there are other elements that contribute to a well-designed landscape: the hard materials, also known as hardscaping. 

The Low-Down on Hardscaping 

It’s highly possible that, while you have enjoyed your own and your friends’ backyards, that you haven’t realized that the blend of hardscaping and softscaping is what creates the ultimate outdoor experience. 

Landscaping provides the ability for a customer to have a greater appreciation for being outside and being comfortable in their own living space. With hardscaping and softscaping, you can personalize your landscape, the extension of a perennial garden, a habitat of your own creation and for your enjoyment and leisurely appreciation. 

Many individuals value their outdoor spaces as a place to entertain and experience outdoor comfort.

Hardscaping for Privacy 

For many homeowners, buying a home means buying a set of neighbours and a piece of a neighbourhood, whether you would choose it or not. One of the best reasons to consider a carefully designed landscaping project that incorporates hardscaping features is to control the privacy and amount of noise that you can hear from your outdoor living space. 

For example, water features are able to gently mask the more unpleasant noises of both auto and foot traffic outside of your property. Then, when it comes to privacy, your landscaper will be able to work with you to use retaining walls, gazebo and many other features to give you more privacy from your neighbours in a creative and aesthetically pleasing way. 

To paint a picture of other ways to promote privacy in your backyard with hardscaping elements include: 

•     Woven Screen (using materials like wood or metal)
•     Solid Panels (translucent or opaque)
•     Wood Pergola
•     Ceiling-like Panels (slotted for extra light)
•     Lattices

Many homeowners prioritize the ability to enjoy their outdoor space without interruption from unwanted noise or prying eyes. But privacy isn’t the only benefit to incorporating hardscaping features alongside your natural features such as floral and edible elements.

Endless Benefits to Hardscaping

Other benefits of hardscaping features include: 

•     Guarding your garden against unwanted pests
•     Extension of your living and entertaining space
•     Increased property value
•     Versatility and design expression
•     Physical boundaries
•     An added dimension to your natural space
•     Increased comfort
•     Ability to enjoy summer nights comfortable seating and ample lighting
•     Effective yet visually appealing storage for your toys and tools

We embrace creativity throughout the whole process. One of the leading trends in landscape design is mixing textures and materials. We embrace the ability to use a variety of different materials, such as natural stone, polished and shaped stone, and even metals and synthetic materials to create the perfect design. Many homeowners use landscaping as a way to express the design and appearances that they love and already have throughout their home. 

A quality landscaping company will work with you to harness the interaction between hardscaping and softscaping. Since many expert landscape designers believe that hardscaping provides the foundation for the softscaping elements, many will highly recommend that you include complementary elements to your dream garden and backyard.

Common Examples of Hardscaping 

When designing your yard, here are some common hardscaping elements that you could consider adding to your design:

•     Paver Patio
•     Stone Wall
•     Gazebo
•     Garden Walls
•     Planting Beds
•     Large Boulders
•     Stone Edging
•     Accent Stones
•     Light Fixtures
•     Pillars Or Columns
•     Seat Walls
•     Stepping Stones
•     Waterfalls
•     Swimming Pools
•     Fountains
•     Ponds
•     Stream bed
•     Fire Features Such As Fireplaces Or Fire Pits
•     Even a pizza oven feature has become increasingly popular!

Designing Your Outdoor Living Space 

Your landscaping wish list can (and should) be a mile long when you’re working with your landscaping design company. That way, you can rest assured that your landscape project incorporates elements that you’ve considered and value the most. 

State of the Art Landscape embraces creativity and challenges, all with the goal to create a dream outdoor living space for you and your family. We professionally design and execute your outdoor living space, with comprehensive services that let you dream big or dream big on a budget. No project is too big or too small for us! We love working with a variety of customers, ideas, and yard sizes to create the perfect space for you. 

Let us bring our passion for quality and our years of landscaping experience to create your dream outdoor living space. Request an on-site appointment with one of our passionate landscape designers today. Let’s get started!