Dos and don'ts for a successful hardscape
To really accent your landscaping you may want to thing about using hardscape. A great hardscaping project should lead you through the landscape and provides a sense of timeless beauty. Falling in love with hardscaping is the easy part, because there are so many appealing options from a rustic stacked wall to a trickling fountain and meditation bench to a fully developed outdoor living room and kitchen. Or maybe you just need a couple of interesting elements to place in that patch where grass refuses to flourish. But like with any outdoor project the key to success is careful planning. Your research really pays off, especially when you consider that a fixed object in the landscape is not going to move easily and you don't want to put in a lot of effort and then have your materials or design fail within a couple of years.
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So here are some do's and don't s for successful hardscaping.
- Get an overall view-You will want to look at the whole landscape before you start. Consider the entire area available to you for hardscaping before you design an element, even if you're just tackling one space for now. This helps both in avoiding a shabby put together look and regret when you are unhappy with the total look and want it all torn out.
- Delve into draining issues-Design experts emphatically state that they see more hardscapes messed up by people ignoring drainage requirements than by all the other errors combined. It is crucial to plan how the drainage will be affected when you place a wall or a patio. There is also an environmental consideration, you should plan runoff so you can capture the water and use it on site, instead of letting it hit that concrete and go down the drainage pipe
- Use a good balance of plants vs. hardscaping-Design experts recommend developing a focal point and a path you want the eye to travel. Keep in mind that you want the eye to travel towards a destination, and one or two visual elements that make you pause, either visually or literally.
- Don't eliminate all your lawn-While certain climates have to focus on a lot of hardscape (for example in the southwest), everyone else should definitely include ample vegetation in relationship to hard surfaces. You can have a beautiful backyard comprised of a hardscape framed by shrub and flowerbeds, but keeping a small swath of lawn is always a good idea. Grass is a safer playing surface for children, and a patch of lawn will help cool down the landscape on hot, sunny days.
- Mix and match but do it with care-Go ahead and select a few materials that complement your home's interior and exterior. The idea is to find two or three materials that are visually creative and coordinate not just with each other but with the interior and exterior of the house. Be sure to keep textural variety in mind too. It is okay to have two textures going, for example flagstone underfoot and landscape blocks for low walls, but more than two textures tends to look messy. If a wood deck is part of your hardscape, try to stick with a single type of stone or brick to accent.
- Have a well-defined style-While hardscapes can be relaxed or formal the best ones always have a well-defined sense of style. Figure out exactly what message you want to convey and only include the elements that add to that and not distract.
- Know when to phone an expert-Be sure to hire a designer or landscape consultant who knows your style. If you do decide to opt for a hired designer or contractor, get recommendations and check portfolios and references.
