Hardscape Design

The term "hardscape" refers to all of the non-living elements or built environment structures that are incorporated into a landscape such as a paver or brick patios or walkways, natural stone walls, segmented retaining wall (SRW), garden walls, sitting walls or wood can also be categorized at hardscape, such as gazebos, trellises or arbors. 

There are so many ways to use hardscape elements to enhance your property: Stone retaining walls create planting areas or convert a slope to flat yard space.

So many amazing elements of hardscaping makeup aesthetic and functional features such as:

• Water features: using natural stone for riverbeds and waterfalls
• Natural stone surfaces: for walks, patios, sitting areas, steppingstones
• Concrete Pavers and Bricks for driveways, entertainment surfaces, walks
• Masonry: stacked stone for outdoor cooking elements like kitchens, pizza ovens, grills, smokers. Masonry also includes stone for fascia, or garden wall construction
• Large boulder Walls: used for large retaining wall projects to hold back earth with a beautiful natural look or for seawalls to withstand the force of water

Hardscaping offers a range of benefits from safety and accessibility to privacy and usability. Here are a few ways professional hardscaping can improve your outdoor space.

1. Grade Concerns or Improvements

An uneven topography (lawn) can create challenging situations for accessibility or usability. Adding a retaining wall can help prevent soil erosion and create a flat space for activities or garden space. Adding a pathway or stairs can make the top or bottom of a steep slope more easily accessible. A patio can level or make an area that is not functional, functional.

2. Provide Privacy & Structure

A fence or stone wall can make your entire yard a private space. Or, if you like the open flow of your yard into your neighbor’s yard, you can add a gazebo or pergola to create a secluded area.

3. Expand your living space

Outdoor kitchens, patios, fire pits, and outdoor seating can create spaces for entertaining guests—or just a little personal time for yourself. Outdoor entertainment spaces provide additional square footage on your property to enjoy the outdoors. Don’t worry about bad weather roofs and heat can make any outdoor room(s) cozy all year round.

4. Enhance your landscaping

Hardscaping elements create unique textures, colors and elevations that diversify your space and contrast with your plants. The blending of landscape & hardscape make for wonderful environments which allows you to create focal points, not to mention, adding equity in your home.

5. Extend the usability of your yard

Fire pits, patios, and outdoor lighting make sure your yard is still accessible into the wee hours of the morning. Fire pits also mean you don’t have to abandon outdoor entertaining once it gets cold.

6. Reduce maintenance

More hardscaping means less grass. Hardscape & masonry (natural stonework) don’t need to be cut or watered, which means you can spend less time maintaining your landscaping and more time enjoying it.

7. Inviting and directing

Hardscape paths and inlays can direct family and friends to doors, accesses, and amazing entertainment spaces. This type of hardscape invites professionally installed low voltage nightscape lighting, which means your property is safe, secure and increases your hardscape investment by two… day and night pleasure.

Installation times vary on the size and scope of the project chosen. 

When installing a hardscape project, it really starts with the design. A simple design, like a basic sidewalk or small patio can be installed relatively quickly. When you graduate to a larger, more detailed & intricate project like a multi-terraced surface or a driveway, or a pool patio that may have inlay for interior or exterior patterns it can increase production time to complete such craftsmanship.

All hardscape projects have specifications that need to be followed and all are unique to the consumer's preferences & unique designs that dictate final product times. Proper designs done by landscape architects, designers or engineers can make your  project beautiful, unique, and custom to your tastes.

Extensive weed growth happens when hardscaping, specifically paver installations are not installed properly, or the wrong materials are used during your installation. We highly recommend choosing an ICPI certified hardscape design team to install your new investment.  

A professionally installed paver or hardscaping project will require a bit of annual maintenance and cleaning like any surface of your home in order to keep it in top-shape.

If your existing paver surface has weeds, there are a few steps you can take to alleviate the vegetation growing in the pavers:

•  Using a systemic herbicide (chemical application) or there are organic alternatives for a safer application.
• Pressure washing your hardscape surface can also be done, this will remove vegetation and the roots, along with the joint sand that has been installed in paver joints. This can be a messy process to a homeowner and should be left to a professional hardscape cleaner that can do the project correctly, neatly and with the correct tools.
• Pull up existing pavers and start with a new professional installation either using the existing pavers or upgrading to an advanced high-quality paver.

Hardscaping is best left to professionals to ensure a long-lasting, low-maintenance, weed-free project. 

All hardscape projects installations should be done by certified ICPI (Interlocking Concrete Paver Institute) or NCMA (National Concrete Masonry Association), organizations that continually train their members and hold them to the highest standards of installation practices, guarantees and mandate proper insurance coverages. When professional hardscape installers that are certified follow the standard of professional installation, then the consumer can take confidence that their project has been properly installed to national standards.

Retaining walls also fall into the category of professional hardscape and as mentioned the NCMA has guidelines that are followed for this practice as well.