Hardscape Uses

Because this side yard was in shade for such a large part of the day, the
grass that had been planted there was slowly disappearing. The
homeowers decided to replace it with plants that can take shade and use
little water and some beautiful rock areas that take no water.

When we first saw this yard, the owners had just finished a huge
remodel that added a room and the deck onto the back of the
house. The backyard was destroyed. They were looking for a
low maintenance, xeric landscape that gave them an interesting
view from the deck. So after repairing the soil compaction
problems and ammending the soil, we brought in tons of rock. The
actual planting (and therefore, watering) area in this yard is very
small but the overall effect is much more appealing than a flat
lawn or masses of annuals.

The photo to the right demonstrates a number of ways that
hardscape can be used to add structure to a landscape. This
yard contains large accent boulders that provide retaining,
stone steps and path to the front door, a cobble area along
the road to allow for parking, and a lovely dry streambed,
shown in detail in the photo below.

Check out the section on seasonal changes to see what this
landscape looks like throughout the year.

And even something as boring as a window well can
become a focal point in the landscape by using attractively
arranged rocks interplanted with a variety of drought-tolerant
species..