Most homeowners get taken aback when they hear the mention of hardscapes and softscapes as it relates to their yard. This is mainly for first time builders looking to work out their landscape. And if you are having such troubles as well, you would find all the details below about choosing the right hardscapes and softscapes for your home. You can also expect to find out the difference between both yard terms. So without mincing any words, let’s get straight to the gist.
Difference Between Hardscapes and Softscapes
At first thought, you can almost tell the difference between both terms. If you know what landscaping is, for mention of hard and soft close to the word scaping, you may be able to guess it certainly has to do with the concrete and delicate structures in your yard. And you are not far from the truth.
When planning your front and backyard design, both features would have to come to play if you want something worthwhile for a new house or existing premises. And for this, you would have to work with a landscaping company to work out the best possible features to use outdoors. You can check here for suggestions on features to add to your outdoor space.
What are Hardscapes?
You know all those hard surfaces in your yard that comprise mostly of heavy materials such as wood, brick, concrete, rock, and other stone pieces. You require a great deal of planning when looking to make such installations in your lot. If you want to achieve an excellent looking landscape, you want to have the right combination of hard elements in your design.
What is Hardscaping?
Since you already know that hardscapes relate to the heavy elements of your yard, hardscaping would then be the art of planning such components in your landscape. Concrete features are common in homes with a large driveway or public accommodations such as hotels and blocks of flats. You can also incorporate other stone and wooden pieces on your premises and would need experts to help out with the design.
What are Softscapes?
Softscapes are elements of your yard that are delicate and require careful maintenance if they are going to last long in your landscape. These elements include the lawn grasses, flower, garden trees, and other succulent (mostly green) details around the building. These components of your yard require careful planning and most likely would need dedication on the part of the homeowner to keep them looking lively.
What Is Softscaping?
Just like hardscaping, softscaping is the planning and the use of plant features in landscaping. It doesn’t require much to set up lawn grass and plant trees in your surroundings, but there is the right way to go about tree and shrub installation in your living space. While you can find lawn grass for sale online, you want to learn more about how best to install softscapes in your landscape.
Planning your Yard Space
If you have ever stared at another building and wondered how the owners could create the right natural balance in their outdoor space, it can only be due to proper planning. The strategy would have to be put in place right from the property’s design, all the way till the final screws and nuts have been put in place.
But you should know that it could take months or even years to achieve the perfect yard, so you want to focus more on careful planning rather than hurrying things. When it comes to choosing hardscapes and softscape features to use in your outdoor design, there are numerous ways to arrive at the right additions to use. You can check below for the ways to plan your yard space.
· Know your Environment
You want to know the nature of weather and climate in your area if you’re going to use the right grasses and trees. Rather than choosing elements off the back of a magazine or online, you want to do your due diligence to know what works best in your environment. The nature of the soil, amount of rainfall, and sun all year round will certainly determine the type of vegetation you use and how you plan the area.
· Consider Other Family Members
If you are planning hardscapes and softscapes in a family home, you surely want to get others’ input. The kids will undoubtedly love an outdoor play area, and the Mrs. may not mind having a garden at the backyard. You want to see how the yard can be planned and detailed to meet everyone’s liking at home. If there are pets as well, they equally want to feel part of your yard space, so trees would be suitable for cats, while lawn grasses could be great for the dog to roll around in.
· Use a Theme
Like any artistic work, you want to use the right theme when planning your yard space. Rather than throwing just anything into the area, you want to strike a balance between colors, shapes, and components of your building. You can start by examining your architecture and ensuring the yard stays an extension of the main house and not like an addition to it.
· Create Connective Spaces
Open spaces should have links for the easy flow of traffic in your yard. This can be realized with the right balance in hard and soft elements in the landscaping.
A driveway that connects to a walking path and then enters into the house is traditional in many homes, and there are countless ways you can blend the entrance of your home with the remainder of your yard. You just have to get creative. There are tips here https://www.realhomes.com/advice/how-to-successfully-link-your-indoor-outdoor-spaces on how to link indoor and outdoor spaces in your real estate.
· Use the Right Details
It can be hard to stay attentive to details, but not so much in a well-structured landscape. You can undoubtedly differentiate the play area from the rest point, and also the soft and hard elements would be well balanced. Getting this one right would require working closely with professional landscapers to get the best design and help with experts’ suggestions.
Hardscaping your Landscape
Now that you are familiar with the difference between hardscapes and softscapes and how best to plan for both features in your yard, I will now share pro-tips on choosing the right hardscaping features for your outdoor. Stone and concrete features could either play a small or substantial part of your front or backyard settings. And some of the right ways to make use of hard elements in your outdoor plan include
1. Driveways
You want to use something durable for your curbs. The use of concrete, brick, or pavements for driveways is ideal due to the heavy traffic that regularly passes through it. The size of your yard and amount of vehicles you own would likely determine the extent of hardscaping to use in your entrances.
2. Walk Paths
You can use concrete, asphalt, or brick layering also for your walkways. This is even more if they connect from your driveway into your ante reception or living room. When properly outlined, your walkways should encourage you to walk around your building and add more organization to your garden.
3. Fences
Fences help with securing your premises and also helps screen out the indoors and outdoors from the public. There are many ways you can use hardscapes in the design of your fence. A wall structure from concrete, brick, or stone coating can also keep the neighbors out of your business and the pets and kids within the premises.
4. Fire and Water Features
You could also plan fire and water features as part of your hardscaping. A pool, water fountain, fire pit, or ponds are also quality additions that make your outdoor space more fun and relaxing. The sound of water dropping down the fountain has a therapeutic effect, not to mention when combined with a well-structured garden. You almost certainly would enjoy an excellent time outdoor alone or with friends and family.
5. Other Bricks and Stoneworks
There are other custom hardscape designs you can include in your front and backyard design. You would have to work with a custom landscaper to work out the best ways to include them in your layout.
Softscaping your Landscape
Softscape features may be the easiest to plan into your yard, but they require a great deal of maintenance to keep them healthy. For most people, owning a garden can be a big issue, especially if they are not passionate about interacting with green elements outdoor.
If you are the avid gardener, you may not find it challenging to create yard maintenance time. But you can always check with professional landscapers to help you out with keeping things in check. Some of the ways you can introduce softscapes in your landscape include
1. Include Plant Varieties
Using only one type of flower or plants in your yard design may not give you the right aesthetics, and you can be sure to do more with a variety of your vegetation. So you want to combine a variety of plants and trees to get a more colorful and exciting appeal in your outdoor space. The right plants to use will depend on the environmental conditions in your area.
2. Keep a Healthy Lawn
Lawn grasses are an excellent way to make your yard spaces more pleasing than leaving it bare with only soil. It is not enough to just plant grasses all over. They would also need to be catered for. This includes regular watering, trimming, and also keeping pests and insecticides away from the place. Neglecting your grasses is the quickest way to make the area untidy, so you want to check in with a home improvement specialist to maintain your landscape.
Final Note
Your hardscape and softscape features will only be influential in your landscape if they are well thought out and executed. There is no denying that you can improve the value of your home with landscaping. And there is also the chance that you will enjoy more peace and relaxation with a well-planned front and back yard.
There are professional landscaping and yard maintenance companies that can help you plan and maintain your outdoor spaces. You can check with the neighbors or friends and relatives for contacts of professionals in the area to help you design the perfect front and back yard. The internet could also prove useful when it comes to finding professional service providers close to you, so you want to consider that avenue.
Lastly, you want to budget appropriately for home improvement, and when it comes to challenging and softscaping features in the home, you could spend more than you plan to, so you want to budget appropriately.
