Hardscapes are exactly what they sound like. They are the hard surfaces such as walkways, patios, fountains/ponds/waterfalls, fences, ornaments, rocks, etc. that are incorporated into the landscaping of your yard. They not only serve many practical purposes but also greatly enhance the aesthetic beauty of your lawn. Here we will lay out some different hardscape options for your landscaping and how these options can be beneficial and eye-catching.
Walkways
Having stone walkways throughout your yard is very aesthetically appealing. There are also a number of practical benefits:
A sense of topographical organization
Walkways provide a sense of order and organization for your lawn by linking together the different points of your home.
A means of avoiding dirt and grass
Of course, this is the most obvious and practical use of a walkway. On rainy days, no one wants to walk through wet grass and get mud on their shoes and pants. After you’ve freshly mowed the grass, you don’t want to have to deal with grass stains. Therefore, due to your walkway, you can now maintain easy and convenient access through your yard at all times.
Making yard work easier
For those who don’t like to mow grass (and who among us isn’t in that category?), having stone walkways can drastically decrease the effort and cost of maintenance for yard work. Walkways minimize the amount of surface area covered by grass and thereby make homeowners’ lives much easier.
Walkway pavers and accents
We stressed in the last section that walkways are aesthetically appealing, but obviously this involves putting a degree of work into decorating and accenting them. A bare walkway isn’t appealing to anybody. Therefore, are a few options with which to do so.
Pavers
No walkway is complete without being paved. Of course, basic concrete is always an option. However, natural stones and pebbles provide much nicer accents to your yard.
Flower beds
By decorating the edges of your walkway with flowers, you significantly add to its aesthetic value.
Patios and Gardens
Your walkways don’t serve much purpose unless they are leading to and from something, right? The bread and butter of your landscaping projects are patios and gardens.
Patios
Patios are your go-to place for enjoying a beautiful day in your beautiful yard. They provide a nice gathering spot for friends and family to eat, relax, and spend time together.
Gardens
Gardens and flowerbeds are the main attraction in your yard. They are the aspects of your yard that add life and beauty.
Steps and Driveways
Much like walkways, steps and driveways provide practicality to your yard on top of being aesthetically pleasing.
Steps
Steps, when you need them, make their purpose obvious. However, even in places where you don’t necessarily need them, such as places where they are used to traverse small, natural slopes in your yard or to reach a patio that is deliberately a bit below ground level, steps provide a nice sense of depth and dynamic for your landscaping.
Driveways
Almost all homes have driveways of some sort. Why not make yours stand out? Decorate your driveway with natural stones, which can add a certain dynamic beauty to your home.
Walls
Stone walls surrounding your property provide not only a sense of privacy and security, but beauty as well. Small walls and dividers can also be incorporated into your patio and walkways at your discretion to add to the beauty and sense of organization mentioned earlier.
Fountains, Ponds and Waterfalls.
The human mind naturally finds fresh, flowing water appealing. It is a matter of instinct. Nothing can add beauty in more ways than a body of flowing water. Some of these ways include the following.
Light
It’s a matter of scientific fact that we don’t actually see light. We see what light interacts with and reflects off of. There is no element on earth that provides this more beautifully than water. With the innumerable reflections and refractions, there is always a dynamic beauty associated with water.
Coolness
On a hot summer day, water provides a cooling effect. If you’re sitting near a body of flowing water, there is a breeze and sometimes a spray that comes along with it. On a hot day this can be incredibly soothing.
Sound
Of course, there is a characteristic sound associated with fountains, waterfalls, and other outdoor water features. The sound of flowing water instinctively provides a sense of peace. So, needless to say, it can add the missing element in any landscaping project.
No single element can complete a landscaping job. Every little thing provides something of its own, and each contributes to the greater whole. If you’re thinking about upgrading your landscaping, remember to add some beautiful hardscape structures to tie it all together.
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