Hardscaping Guide To Enhance Your Outdoor Space

If you’re DIYing your landscape, it’s not always easy to see how hardscapes fit in. Designing a lush garden, choosing the right plants, and layering them correctly is hard enough. Having to incorporate hardscapes along with that is no mean feat.

If you’re feeling lost, fret not. We consulted Gavin Warwick, the founder of Boise Landscaping Company, a company that specializes in landscaping Boise ID homes, to find out more about the hardscape elements and materials available on the market. Obviously, anyone knows you need pathways throughout your landscape. But what materials to use for them? What other hardscapes are there? Which ones should you use for your garden?

In this article, we’ll be going through the various hardscape elements and materials available to complement your softscapes and bring out the full potential of your landscape.

Know Your Options

The first step to using hardscapes effectively in your yard is to know your options. If you don’t know what’s available, you may end up settling for a hardscape element just because you didn’t know there was a better one available. Or you may miss out on a hardscape element that you could have placed in your landscape to further enhance it because you didn’t even know it existed. By knowing what’s available, you can make a more informed decision.

1. Walkways And Paths

I believe most people know what these are, but when planning your walkways and paths, there’s actually more things to consider than you might think. First, the shape itself has to match your aesthetic. Is it going to be wavy and loose? Straight with sharp, clean corners?

Next, what materials do you use? Gravel can be great for a minimalistic landscape, but it may not be too appropriate if you have a wheelchair-bound person at home.

Finally, the flow is crucial. Make sure that they connect to your outdoor living spaces, and where there are focal points, they should highlight the focal points where possible.

2. Patios

Another commonly known hardscape element, for patios, you mainly want to make sure that they fit in with your overall aesthetic. Otherwise, there aren’t any real rules to patios.

They’re areas for outdoor enjoyment of the user, so it really depends on you. You can customize your patio with lighting, temperature control systems, and even an outdoor TV if you want to.

3. Water Features

You may think you don’t need a water feature, but with the variety of different types of water features available, there’s almost guaranteed to be one for you, regardless of your landscaping style.

Even for minimalist landscapes, a simple squarish fountain can help enhance the look while bringing a little more variety to your space. Water features can be tranquil and peaceful, or they can be loud and majestic. It’s all up to you.

Again, knowing your options is important. There are waterfalls, fountains, streams, birdbaths, bubbling rock features, and even reflecting pools.

Water features are almost always welcome in any landscape. Their flowing sound can block out outside noise, and their constant flow can bring about a calm, serene atmosphere that’s perfect for relaxing and unwinding.

4. Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are usually more of a need than a want. Basically, if you have a slope that’s steep enough that soil can erode, you’ll need a retaining wall at the bottom of the slope.

But when done right, retaining walls can add more depth to your garden. For example, having multiple retaining walls along your slope can create several mini gardens.

When you’re installing the draining wall though, make doubly sure that there’s a proper drainage system in place to prevent water build-up.

5. Fire Pits/Features

Finally, fire pits bring a new layer of functionality to your outdoor space. You can use them to stay warm during cooler months, have a barbeque, or just light it up for fun at night. Who doesn’t like a bonfire after all?

While a fire pit can be somewhat overboard for certain quieter landscaping styles like Japanese Zen gardens or cottage gardens, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a fire feature.

Fire pit tables in particular are great for landscaping styles where you don’t want something too loud, as they can be covered up to function and look like a regular table.

Choosing The Materials

Alright, now that you know what hardscape elements there are, now you’ll need to decide on the materials to use for your hardscapes. Here are the options available on the market.

1. Pavers

Durable, long-lasting, and requiring minimal maintenance, pavers are one of the most popular hardscaping materials for paths, driveways, and patios.

Pavers are also one of the easiest to install, which is why they’re so popular. You basically just lay them out according to their shape. And if any of the pavers get damaged, you can just replace the damaged pavers with new ones. Pavers also come in many colors, and they’re relatively low-priced.

All these combine to make pavers one of the most commonly used hardscape materials. Note that pavers refer to the final shape of a material, but the material itself can vary from concrete pavers to brick and composite pavers.

2. Natural Stone

Natural stones like granite, slate, and flagstone have a natural beauty that other materials don’t, and they bring a more sophisticated, elegant look to your hardscape. Of course, the catch is that natural stone hardscapes can be quite expensive and installation is harder. They also require more maintenance.

Nevertheless, you get what you pay for. The end result with natural stones is usually quite something to behold, so if you can spare the cash, natural stone is definitely a worthwhile investment.

3. Concrete

It’s no secret that concrete is a commonly used construction material. But everyone also knows that concrete in its natural form doesn’t exactly look good. With modern techniques like polishing and stamping though, concrete can actually look great. The problem is that concrete can require some skill to properly install, and DIY installations usually don’t look great.

Without proper installation, concrete can also be more prone to cracking. And even with proper installation, concrete can crack if it goes through freeze-thaw cycles. Nonetheless, concrete is very inexpensive. It’s a great option for those on a budget, and even if maintenance, repair, or even replacement is needed later on, it’ll still be cheaper than other materials.

4. Brick

Brick may not be as elegant as natural stone, but it has a natural beauty of its own. Brick, like pavers, is also pretty easy to install. Add that to the fact that brick is friendly on your wallet and durable, and it’s no surprise that it’s quite a popular option despite being somewhat dull.

5. Composite Materials

Composite materials are materials that combine two or more recycled materials like plastic and wood fibers together. These materials are made to be tough and able to withstand the test of time, and usually don’t require much maintenance. They’re also highly customizable and can mimic wood and even natural stone.

That said, composite materials can mimic, but not replicate fully the look of natural stone and wood. They’re also more pricey than concrete and brick, though they do make up for this higher costs with lower maintenance requirements and longer lifespans.

Conclusion

These are basically all the hardscapes and materials you can use in your landscape. You may not know exactly which ones you want to use yet, but at least now you know what your options are. So go ahead and visualize or even draw out your landscape design and see which hardscapes will work best.