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Add some variety to your back yard with these ideas for hardscaping.
A back yard should be more than swathes of lawn surrounded with predictable borders of perennials and annuals.
The smartest landscapes have backbone that sets the overall structure of the outdoor space, says Tim Shoemaker of Pave-Stone Store of Oklahoma. In the landscaping trade, it’s called hardscape.
Stone is becoming the most popular method to achieve the look.
“Not only does the hardscaping set the overall structure; it draws the eyes to multiple elevations,” he says. “You don’t want to look out at a flat expanse.”
With hardscaping, you literally are creating an outdoor house with separate rooms in stone. That’s why, Shoemaker says, it’s vital to evaluate your lifestyle before beginning your project.
“Your needs should be established first,” he says.
For example, a children’s play area is neat. But if you don’t have kids, who cares? Are you a party animal? Then that’s where the emphasis, complete with fireplace, should go. Likewise, if you are very private, niches for deux-a-deux relaxing are the way to go.
Other possibilities are a spa, a kitchen and a utility compound for potting and storing equipment.
Europeans have been using stone hardscape for centuries. An increasingly popular trend is decorated, manmade concrete. The finished product should last 100 years and provides an old-world look.
A good example is the Linneaus Teaching Gardens in Tulsa’s Woodward Park.
There’s another good reason for the manmade product, Shoemaker says. Environmentalists increasingly are concerned about the stripping of quarries of natural stone.
Additionally, Shoemaker notes that there are special permeable paver materials to protect the roots of mature trees and provide them with oxygen.
Shoemaker teaches community education classes in Tulsa, Jenks and Broken Arrow.
For more information, visit www.pave-stonestoreok.com.
