Landscaping, as simple of an idea as it is, involves two processes, those being hardscaping and softscaping.
Hardscaping focuses on the hard components in landscape maintenance and design like stone, mulch, brick, retaining walls, fences, ornamental statues, and other permanent and non-living components.
Softscaping focuses on the softer, living components that landscaping maintenance encompasses.
Together, they combine to create lovely landscape designs.
How is Softscaping Maintained?
What is the prime goal of good softscape maintenance?
Ideally, professional landscapers try to create a design that uses hardscaping and softscaping in such a way that keeping up with plant care is easier and the plants used in the design will flourish.
While any plant can be used in a landscape design, not all of them will flourish in a specific location or climate.
What Makes Up Softscaping?
Though softscaping technically encompasses any plant in any landscape, many landscaping maintenance professionals like to use species that are either native to a specific region or resistant to known climate conditions.
In Texas, that means using as many drought-resistant species as possible.
It can also mean creating a design where tougher, drought-resistant species are arranged in ways so they provide protection for other slightly less resilient species.
Combined, this allows landscapers to use more types of plants to create a more beautiful presentation that requires less landscape maintenance.
How Should You Bring Softscaping and Hardscaping Together?
As easy as it might seem to only pay attention to the softscaping, a great landscape design must incorporate planning for both hardscape and softscape maintenance, as the hardscape lays the foundation for the general look of the landscaping design.
Plant choice, from trees and bushes down to flowering plants and groundcovers, may depend on how flower beds, water features, retaining walls, patios, and other hardscape components are set up.
Essentially, one cannot exist without the other, even if hardscaping involves little more than outlining a bed with rocks and filling it in with mulch or even filling planters and plant boxes with desired blooming species.
All Landscaping Needs Maintenance
There is no such thing as a maintenance-free landscape design that actually includes living foliage.
Still, by planning softscaping carefully and using the right species and hardscaping, landscape maintenance efforts and costs can be minimized while still having a beautiful, and colorful property.
By paying attention to softscaping and designing around plant needs and hardscape appearance desires, an experienced landscaping maintenance service can bring any homeowner’s landscape design ideas to life.
Carefully planned out, softscaping and hardscaping can come together in a beautiful, affordable, and long-lasting way.