How Landscape Contractors Make Las Vegas, NV, Hardscapes Seamless With Surrounding Greenery
While a hardscape feature such as an inviting patio might be the first thing that catches your eye in a Las Vegas, NV, landscape, the complement that you might not notice is the surrounding greenery. Here are the ways that landscape contractors use greenery and thoughtful plantings to make an outdoor space look seamless.
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When you make the decision to add a hardscape feature to your landscape, an important part of the process to create a truly dreamy outdoor space is to include strategic trees, plants, and grass to surround the feature. Your landscaper will use several ways to soften the edges and make the space feel alive with beauty.
Difference Between Hardscape and Softscape
The term hardscape refers to anything in the landscape that is made of pavers, stone, or brick and is a permanent feature of the landscape. This can include a patio, outdoor kitchen, walkway, driveway, or pool to name a few. Softscape refers to the plants, trees, and grass that gives the hardspace feature softness and character, giving an outdoor space your personal style.
Understanding the Space
As part of the design process, your landscaper should take a good look at the landscape that surrounds any hardscape feature like a patio, outdoor fire area, or outdoor kitchen, taking note of anything that catches the eye. This most likely will be a visual focal point. It could be the cache of trees that form a boundary or view of a lake or the way the evening light filters through the trees. A thorough understanding of the entire landscape space can be helpful since all of the outdoor space should flow well as a unified whole.
Using Greenery Strategically
Your landscaper can use trees as a property border, along a walkway to guide the eye toward the destination, and simply for shade and beauty. They will often place flowering or decorative, ornamental trees near the edges of a hardscape space without blocking the view to add shade and vibrant color.
Shrubs can be another excellent way to soften the angular edges of a patio or outdoor fireplace space as these bushes offer various heights and shapes to complement a space. Your landscaper might choose a cone-shaped boxwood or evergreen to introduce a new line or angle to the landscape or they could emphasize symmetry with a row of the same shrubs. They will discuss your preference for specific shrubs and shapes so that the final product looks like what you envision.
Low-growing plants such as monkey grass, flowers (both annual and perennial), and groundcovers can add color and greenery to the lower levels of the space. Another exceptional way to soften visually sharp edges can be to have your landscaper incorporate planters in the hardscape to add color and texture. The pretty spilling flowers and vines that trail down bring life to any space.
Other Greenery
If you wish to have a vegetable garden or an herb garden, or both, to grow some of your own food for a fresh meal, your landscaper can plan a spot for growing food that also adds a unique look to your hardscape. Perhaps have them use a trellis for climbing beans and add some blooming, climbing flowers for extra color while the ground can hold tomatoes, squash, and herbs.
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