Landscaping vs. Hardscaping
When it comes to home improvement, most people focus on interiors. However, the exterior of your home is equally important, as this improves curb appeal and gives you a relaxing space outdoors. If you want to improve your home's exterior, you can conduct a landscaping or hardscaping project.
We’ll discuss exactly what the differences are, their benefits, and designs you can try for your next summer landscaping or hardscaping projects.
What is Landscaping?
Landscaping is the practice of enhancing the appearance of a piece of land, such as a yard. Basically, everything that improves the beauty or functionality of your yard can be considered landscaping. This includes modifying existing designs, installing new features, and planting more trees, flowers, or shrubs.
The major benefits of landscaping include an increase in your home’s value, the creation of a calming environment that can lessen your stress levels, and improved temperature regulation; landscaping can help your home to stay cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
What is Hardscaping?
Hardscaping is an element of landscaping. It is the practice of improving the style and functionality of your outdoor space by adding non-living elements such as retaining walls or even outdoor kitchens. These elements include man-made features created with paving stones, rock, metal, and other hardscape materials.
The major benefits of hardscaping include added dimension to your yard, making it more visually appealing; increased functionality from new amenities for entertainment and leisure; and decreased maintenance needs for your yard due to the reduction of natural elements that need watering, mowing, and trimming.
Landscaping vs. Hardscaping: What’s The Difference?
When it comes to landscaping, most people will think that it’s just about trees, flowering plants, and other natural elements. However, landscaping involves everything you change or alter in your yard to make it more beautiful and functional.
One of the most important parts of a landscaping project is hardscaping. Basically, any decorative or practical structure in your yard that is not a plant is considered hardscaping. Some of the hardscaping elements you can add to your space include wooden fences, concrete patios, retaining walls, fire pits, and stone pathways.
Landscaping vs. Hardscaping in the Summer
While you can conduct landscaping and hardscaping projects at any time of the year, summer is actually the best season to do it. After all, even though these are outdoor home improvement projects, they can still cause noises and distractions in your household.
You can skip that trouble when you schedule a landscape and hardscaping project while your family is on a summer vacation. Let your contractor work on your dream outdoor space while you’re gone, and come home to see the project completed just the way you wanted it.
More importantly, summer is the easiest time to conduct hardscaping projects. Most hardscaping projects use materials that need drying time. However, due to the warm and stable weather of the summer season, materials dry faster and it’s easier for your contractor to finish on time, allowing you to enjoy your renewed outdoor space faster.
Summer Landscaping and Hardscaping Design Ideas
Summer is the best season to spend more time outdoors. This is what makes it an ideal time to landscape and transform your outdoor space into a spot you would live to spend time in. But aside from improving and adding natural elements to your space, don't forget to incorporate man-made structures to elevate the space and give your family new amenities for entertainment and relaxation.
Here are some landscaping and hardscaping ideas to consider this summer:
1. Walkways
With endless design options, adding a walkway to your yard is one of the best landscaping elements to add to a home. Walkways show people where they should walk, keeping them from stepping on your freshly cut grass and other plants. You can also improve the look of your walkway by lining it with flowers and other decorative plants.
2. Ponds
Due to the warm weather of the summer season, you’ll need a design element that can provide a cooling breeze. This makes ponds a perfect addition to your yard. Not only will this add to the beauty of your property, it also gives your outdoor space a refreshing atmosphere.
3. Picket Fences
When deciding what hardscape elements to add to your space, think of how you can add natural elements to it. By installing a picket fence, you’ll gain a decorative boundary that you can further beautify by planting flowering around it.
FAQs
What’s the difference between landscape and hardscape?
Landscaping refers to any improvements and new features added to a piece of land to make it more aesthetic and functional. Hardscaping is the part of a landscaping project that deals with any non-living elements, such as patios, driveways, and fire pits. Hardscaping is a type of landscaping, which means that all hardscaping is landscaping, but not all landscaping is hardscaping.
What is considered a hardscape?
Any element of a landscape design that is made with wood, concrete, brick metal, solid stone, and other inanimate materials is considered a hardscape. Popular examples of this are walkways, gazebos, pergolas, fences, and retaining walls.
How much value does hardscaping add?
One of the biggest benefits of hardscaping is that it adds significant value to your property. Both landscaping and hardscaping can give you a return of investment as high as 150% if you implement the right projects.
What are the benefits of hardscaping?
Hardscaping improves the beauty and functionality of your outdoor space. From making your space more visually inviting to extending your entertainment space into your yard, including hardscaping into your landscaping projects will make a significant difference in your home.