What is hardscaping?

“Hardscaping” involves any “hard” materials which typically consists of concrete, stone, or brick that is used in any landscaping project. It can be a little tricky sometimes to mentally visualize what is hardscaping when you are beginning to learn about it. However, most likely you already have an idea of what hardscaping is. Common forms of hardscaping include concrete, tile, brick, flagstone, stone, and travertine.

In contrast, another subdivision of hardscaping is “softscaping” which is what is sounds like -  the absence of using any “hard” materials when landscaping. Think of flowers, shrubs, soil, vegetable gardens, etc.  In general, there are those who purely prefer hardscaping over softscaping and vice versa. Both have their advantages, softscaping creates a scenic view using natural elements while hardscaping can instill a clean, modern, beautiful look using non-natural elements. Whatever the option, one never has to be restrained to one choice in order to create something exquisite. Nevertheless,  one thing to keep in mind is that softscaping will typically require more maintenance since plants, flowers, vegetation, etc  require water, sunlight, fertilizer, air, and other elements aside from the human upkeep of trimming, hedging, digging, and mowing. Hardscaping requires almost no maintenance since the material used are are non-living materials and don't require much additional care.