Have you ever wondered why a particular landscape looks so beautiful? Perhaps it had something to do with the balance of the hardscape features with the softscape elements. Landscaping companies can merge these two to establish a naturally inviting Hudson, OH, landscape for you.
Related: Why Working with Experienced Landscaping Companies Matters in Novelty, OH
What is hardscaping?
Hardscapes refer to any structure in the landscape that is not living—such as patios, walls, pergolas, and even rock boulders. Hardscape structures give definition and edges to the landscape, allowing the terrain to be useful and to function as you prefer. Anything from a gravel walkway to stone steps to a water wall is considered hardscaping.
What is softscaping?
Softscapes refer to all of the living things in the landscape—the trees, shrubs, grass, flowers, any plant. The living softscape softens the edges of the hardscape to create balance, texture, and interest in your yard. When these two elements are thoughtfully planned to complement one another, an amazing landscape can be created.
How to Merge Hardscape and Softscape
Create Balance: Sometimes we can think of balance as only having the same things on each side, like mirroring plants on one side of the yard with the opposite side. What balance really means is to add a few tall trees to a patio edge to make the patio not feel so expansive and hard. Another way to incorporate balance is to have both a patio with a fireplace surrounded by plantings to make it feel more secluded and intimate. A yard that is essentially flat can find balance with vertical elements such as a pergola, a landscape bed with huge boulders, and trees that are grouped together to form a living boundary to a property edge.
Retaining Wall: While retaining walls can certainly help to divert stormwater to a better place and stop erosion in your landscape, they can also serve to define a specific place in your landscape such as an outdoor kitchen. When you set off your outdoor kitchen from the normal patio area with a retaining wall, one way to soften the edges of the wall can be to plant herbs for your dishes along the top of the wall. Adding flowering plants and vines that droop over the edge of the wall can also be an excellent way to keep your hardscape from looking too harsh.
Outdoor Living Room: An outdoor living room can quickly become your favorite relaxation spot with comfortable furniture and an outdoor fireplace for those chilly evenings, but plant some trees near the edge and you will have shade and greenery. This can make you feel like you are surrounded by nature when the branches filter out the harsh rays of the sun and the birds perch in the branches to chirp away.
Landscape Bed Borders: When the grass starts to invade the landscape beds, infiltrating your mulch or pine needles that you have so carefully maintained, adding a border of landscape bricks or paving stones can halt the migration of weeds and grass into areas you don’t want them. Using seasonal flowers at the edge of the bed can soften the look of hard edge while still keeping that straying grass contained.
A landscape professional can merge the hardscape with a living softscape to bring balance and beauty to your Hudson, OH, property.
Related: 3 Appealing Outdoor Living Spaces That Landscaping Companies Can Create in Hudson, OH
