When people think of gardening, they may think of leisurely days in the garden, slowly planting small flowers into soft soil.
But this isn’t what all gardening looks like.
Gardening comes in many forms, and one of the main ones is landscaping.
Landscape gardening combines many elements of horticulture, construction, and more, to form a method of completely transforming a garden.
But just what do we mean when we say landscaping?
Let’s find out.
What is Garden Landscaping?
Garden landscaping involves designing, arranging, and modifying outdoor garden spaces using plants, soil, terrain shapes, and structural elements like pathways, fences, or water features. It aims to improve visual appeal, functionality, and environmental value while aligning with the owner’s aesthetic and practical needs.
If you’re looking out at your back garden right now and imagining a pergola wrapped in greenery in one corner, with a paved pathway leading to it and maybe some raised beds built by railway sleepers, then what you need is a landscape gardener.
Landscaping is more than just planting flowers, it contains building structures, separating gardens into different levels, and much more.
Due to this, many skills are required to carry out such a job, such as carpentry and brickwork qualifications.
Garden landscaping is what is needed when a garden requires a complete overhaul. Some of the more common jobs you would find landscapers performing are:
- Removing the components of the old garden and disposing of the waste.
- Installing new ground level features such as paving or decking.
- Building structures such as planting beds, pergolas, and maybe even outhouses and sheds.
- Replacing turf or grass.
- Separating the garden into different areas and levels.
- Adding features such as plants.
- Provide consultation and advice to the client on how the garden should be maintained.
With all these different types of jobs expected from a landscape gardener, it is hard to find someone who is an expert in every required skill.
That is why landscape gardening is often split into two sections, hard and soft.
What is Hard Landscaping?
Hard landscaping refers to the use of non-living materials in outdoor design, such as stone, concrete, brick, metal, and wood. It includes features like patios, pathways, walls, decks, and driveways. Hard landscaping provides structure, durability, and function in landscaping projects, supporting the layout and usability of outdoor spaces. Often these jobs may require specific machinery and qualifications in subjects such as joinery and construction.
A good way of remembering what counts as hard, and what counts as soft, is to think of the materials being used.
Hard landscaping is often involved when using hard materials such as wood and stone.
Here at the Southwest London Gardener, we have a team of experienced hard landscapers with the required skills to perform even the toughest jobs, as shown in some of our projects, such as this complete garden renovation in Clapham, which combined many hard landscaping elements, such as the installation of new seating and flooring, as well as a storage area under the stairs.
Hard landscaping is a key part of any garden transformation, but no garden is complete without its soft counterpart as well.
What is Soft Landscaping?
Soft landscaping involves the use of living, natural elements in outdoor design, including grass, plants, flowers, trees, shrubs, and soil. It focuses on enhancing visual appeal, biodiversity, and environmental health. Soft landscaping complements hard landscaping by adding organic texture, colour, and ecological value to a space.
Soft landscaping plays a key role in any garden build as it adds the delightful finishing touches to a project that make each job so special.
See this garden room in Battersea, for example, which was laid with hard, porcelain tiles that made it unappealing and not child-friendly. Our team got in, ripped up the old tiles and laid a luscious green lawn, which was perfect for the children to play in.
To be great at soft landscaping, you should have a good knowledge of plants and nature. This is because a lot of the job involves choosing the perfect plants to fit into a garden design and bring a garden to life.
This garden in Sutton was quite minimalist in design, but the addition of some plants along the fence and a feature Dogwood really made an eye-catching statement.
Why You Should Use Hard and Soft Landscaping Together.
Use hard and soft landscaping together to create balanced, functional, and visually appealing outdoor spaces. Hard landscaping provides structure and durability, while soft landscaping adds colour, texture, and life. Combining both enhances usability, supports drainage, improves biodiversity, and ensures long-term aesthetic and environmental value.
Our project in Wimbledon is a great example of this, as hard landscaping was used to create a paved area nestled beautifully under a new pergola, but soft landscaping also has a major input, adding a lovely green lawn and some large plants.
A great team combines all elements of landscape gardening to work together to form a beautiful garden, and if this sounds like something you may be interested in, then get in touch with The Southwest London Gardener today.
Garden Landscaping Trends
Just like in fashion, styles and trends come and go in landscape gardening.
With that in mind, here are some items that seem to be proving really popular right now.
- Outside offices – The pandemic changed a lot of things. It meant more people working from home, and many people falling in love with their gardens again. Both of these have led to a real increase in a desire for an outside office or outhouse. In fact, houses showcasing this feature has risen by eleven times in the last decade, and we think it’s a feature that’s here to stay.
- Water Features – In recent times, water features have risen in popularity, selling more than other features such as solar lights and garden mirrors combined. And there’s good reason for this. A water feature makes a perfect accessory. It’s great for wildlife, creates a serene atmosphere, and also looks great. What’s not to love?
- Mis-shaped lawns – The UK is seeing a rise in popularity of lawns that are not your ordinary square or rectangles. It seems people may be looking more to adding features that take away segments of grass or shaping their lawn in an unusual way. It’s certainly a great way to add another element to your garden and create a real talking point.
- Wild Planting – If you’re looking for a low-maintenance garden, than wildflowers may be for you. These tough, self-reproducing plants look great and don’t take as much looking after, which may be why they’re such a popular choice. Not only that, but they also attract plenty of nature to your garden, which is always a plus.
Natural London Garden Landscapers
At The Southwest London Gardener, we have a varied team which contains experts in hard and soft landscape gardening.
We are also natural gardeners, which means we only use natural materials such as wood and stone and love nothing more than creating a garden that is sustainable and great for the environment.
If you’re looking for a garden transformation, then why not get in touch with our team for a quick chat about your ideas and a free, no-obligation quote?
We would love to speak with you about your project. And if you have read this blog and think the life of a landscape gardener sounds perfect for you, then why not check out our careers page.
