What is hard landscaping?

At Southway Construction we are experts in a wide range of exterior construction and Civil engineering work, and one of the professional services that we provide to both our domestic and commercial clients, is hard landscaping.

Hard landscaping or ‘hardscaping’ is a term which applies to a number of different hard aspects of our exterior spaces i.e. the shapes, frameworks and different surfaces in our gardens, rather than the soft features such as lawns, plants, trees and shrubs.

Hard landscaping can cover (but is not limited to) the following aspects:

• Paving, pathways and steps
• Rocks, stones and masonry
• Fences, walls and other boundaries
• Car parks, driveways and any sort of vehicular standing
• Patios, terraces and decking

All of these different elements involve a wide range of different design and material choices. Fences, for example could be wood, metal, brick or stone. So it is important that your hard landscaping elements are carefully managed to ensure that they fit well into the overall scheme of your garden or other outside space.

Planning your hard landscape

Any sort of redesign or refurbishment of your exterior space should be planned carefully. The best way to approach this is to ensure that you plan all of the different elements – hard and soft – and consider how they will all work together.

Some considerations are mainly practical i.e. where you need a path, the addition or replacement of a fence or wall and such factors as having a patio or decking close to the house. Other areas are more open to preference, including the shape or style of paving, the colour of materials, additional features such as rockeries or ponds and how all of these individual elements work together.

Overall it is important to make sure that all of your materials and different elements are practical, look good, complement each other and also fit well with your plans for the soft elements of your garden.

The right balance between hard and soft elements

Hard landscaping should always be considered first when considering a new garden or external layout or a refurbishment to your exterior spaces. A concern over the development of our garden spaces in recent years has been the tendency for soft spaces – which include important plants and drainage – to be paved over for car parking or ease of maintenance. By engaging experts like Southway Construction for your hard landscaping project – you can be reassured that your hardscaped surfaces are planned to be appropriate for the environment and can accommodate soft aspects as well – helping to achieve the perfect balance.

Find out more about the different elements of hard landscaping on the Southway Construction web site, or get in touch with us for more information.