Hardscaping

Q. What is hardscape?

A. Hardscape, or "hardscaping" refers to the inanimate (i.e., non-living) elements of a landscape. This includes elements made from wood, even though wood was once animate (in the form of trees). Living plants, by contrast, constitute the "softscape." In particular, as the name implies, "hardscape" refers to hard elements such as those composed of concrete, brick or stone, in addition to wood. For instance, constructing a patio or deck is a hardscape project, as is a brick walkway, a stone wall, or a wooden fence. But hardscape goes beyond large-scale projects such as these. Any non-living ornamentation in your landscaping is, technically, part of the hardscape.

Q. When implementing landscape plans, do I start with hardscaping or softscape?

A. Start with the hardscaping. It's easiest to work on hardscaping projects when you don't have a lot of plants in the way -- plants that could easily be damaged, as well, in the course of your hardscaping projects.

Q. Working with stone and concrete is hard labor. How can I make it easier?

A. Working with stone and concrete does involve a lot of heavy labor, but there are lots of ways to facilitate your work, including the use of automatic concrete mixers:

• Don't buy the 80-lb. bags of concrete -- settle for buying a greater quantity of the smaller bags that are easier to lift, even though you'll end up paying more.
• Buy bags of pre-mixed concrete rather than the type to which you have to add other materials -- handling all those extra materials means added labor.
• Use an automatic concrete mixer to mix the concrete rather than doing so using hand labor.