While every homeowner knows something about landscaping, very few are quite familiar with landscaping’s two most critical components; hardscape and softscape. As already mentioned, hardscape and softscape are important parts of a home. Whereas hardscape simply refers to the hard stuff in your yard such as stone, bricks, and concrete, among others, softscape refers to the soft, living things such as perennial flowers, shrubs, and trees, among others.

The most beautiful homes are those that find the right balance between their hardscape and softscape features. The chances are that you have seen homes that have too much of one or the other. And it’s usually not a great sight! And while you are free to try and make your landscape as gorgeous as possible, you should never overdo it such that it completely overshadows your softscape. Unfortunately, a significant number of homeowners often make this grave landscaping mistake. They fill their landscape with huge statues, ponds, and other hardscape structures such as driveways and motorways that impact a home’s warmth as well as cozy feel, ultimately giving it a commercial taste.

So, while hardscape features play a crucial role in the overall appearance of your home, they should be incorporated into your yard with lots of caution to ensure they enhance your home’s beauty and not take away from it.

So, what constitutes a home’s hardscape?

As earlier explained, hardscape includes all inanimate things that can be moved around as well. Common hardscape landscaping elements include stones, pavings, and gravel. It is important to note that different landscaping hardscaping features serve different roles. For example, stones, pavements as well as porous materials help curb runoffs because are highly effective at absorbing excess water. Other notable hardscaping elements such as gazebos, decks, driveways, patios, and outdoor chickens not only enhance a property’s aesthetic appeal, but also serve utilitarian purposes.

So, what constitutes a home’s softscape?

Softscape elements are simply animate objects that are soft to touch, including shrubs, trees as well as flowering plants. And because softscape features are living things, they require more care compared to your hardscape elements. One distinctive feature of softscape elements is that they are available in a range of colors, sizes, and shapes, giving you countless options and ways to incorporate them into your property.

So, how do you incorporate both softscape and hardscape features into your home?

Below are a few proven, practical and straightforward tips on how to create the perfect balance between your softscape and hardscape elements.

  • If your home or property is relatively small, you can make great use of the available space by creating layers through container gardens as well as pedestals. And when it comes to hardscaping features, you can use retaining walls since they create space.
  • If you reside in an area that experiences regular water shortage, it is highly recommended that you enhance your home’s beauty using hardscaping elements. You may replace grass with either brick pavers or concrete. And if you must use plants, go for drought-resistant ones that don’t consume lots of water.

The Bottom line:

As you may have realized, your outdoor landscape design should feature a balanced mix of both hardscape and softscape elements to create perfect harmony and improve your outdoor living space. As always, it is important to seek the services of professional landscaping contractors to help achieve the desired results.

Looking for a Professional Landscape Company?

Contact Sinacori Landscaping today. Call us at 248-651-5400.  We hope to chat with you soon!