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Hard N Soft Landscape
Hard N Soft Landscape
ART OF LANDSCAPING: It is necessary to relieve the monotony of endless stretches of green. PHOTO: BIJOY GHOSH
Any landscape proposal generally comprises of hard and soft elements. Hard landscaping and soft
complement each other and cannot be seen independent of each other. While hard landscaping covers all
civil work such as pavements, retaining walls, screen walls, pergolas and the like, soft landscaping deals
with all that is green... be it trees, shrubs or grass. Of course other related aspects deal with irrigation,
garden lighting and such other items on the landscaping agenda.
Another important feature of a landscaped area is water. Here we are not talking about the water needed to
grow and maintain the greenery, but water as an element in design.
Importance of water
In campuses water, whether it is flowing in the form of an artificial stream or a fountain, the main reason for
its existence is to relieve the monotony of endless stretches of green, especially those spaces that
immediately enclose a large building. But for an architect, an equally important reason to have flowing or
churning water as part of the plan is to better the immediate micro-climate. The presence of a water body of
reasonable size has an effect of cooling down the immediate environs and when it takes the form of
fountain, the droplets that are thrown into the air as part of the nozzle action add to the cooling process.
When we talk about loss of water in fountains, a large part of it is due to evaporation loss even if the
fountain happens to be in the shade and also because a considerable part of it is lost when the nozzles throw
up a jet the thumb rule being, the higher the jet the greater the loss of water due to spray. A good idea
would be to tone down the nozzle apertures when not on display. This, however, is possible in residences
where one can plan and spruce up the fountain and the garden lighting in time for a guest's arrival.
K. RAGHURAMAN
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Hard Landscaping
Hard Landscaping forms the bones of an outdoor space
and sets the tone for the style of the garden.It includes
all the non-living elements in a garden:
With hard landscaping you need to think about style and scale. Many elements can
look completely out of place in the wrong setting. If a feature is too large or too small for
your space it can ruin the effect. This is where the experience of Green Solutions can
help you save time and money. Well chosen and well placed hard landscaping will add
to the practicality and beauty of the outdoor area. Contact Green Solutions Landscaping
for more advice on the design of your garden .
Soft Landscaping
Soft Landscaping includes all the living things in your garden. Green Solutions will
choose the plants suitable for your particular site and requirements. Plants have very
basic needs - sun, soil and water but the specific requirements for each vary
tremendously. We take the guesswork out of gardening, grouping plants with similar
needs together. This is not only more ecologically sound, but saves you time. Plus our
horticultural knowledge allows us to create a garden with year-round appeal that is
tailored to your needs - Do you want a dog or child friendly garden? Do you want to
attract birds to your garden? What kind of irrigation
system will best suit your garden?
Take the guesswork out of gardening and contact Green
Solutions Landscaping for a professional analysis of your
hard and soft landscaping requirements.
Estate agents estimate that 95% of buyers will not even get out
of their cars if the house isn't appealing from the outside and that
has a lot to do with the garden surrounding it!
If you have a small garden let Green Solutions Landscaping do the design, and you can
have fun doing the gardening. Look at our new e-Landscaping Design solutions.
Professional advice at a fraction of the price!
ne of my main aims when asked to design a garden around a new house, is to soften the impact that new
building has within what was once a green field site.
In essence, I aim to create a situation where the opposites of hard and soft, sharp and smooth, are living
in harmony within the site. A prime example of the achievement of this hard/soft harmony is to be found
within the rock garden, the rocks and gravel represent the hard textures, with the soft textures being filled
by the lush alpine planting.
Building a rockery is a project that many of you out there may happily undertake this coming summer, so
over a few articles, I shall give you some insight into rockery layout, creation and planting.
Keep it natural.
A simple traditional rockery should be designed to resemble a natural rock out-crop, with plants positioned
to reflect mother natures irregular seed sowing pattern. This area should use only one type of rock e.g.
limestone, granite or whatever stone is local, try also to select some character-filled rock with cracks and
fissures. It goes without saying that concrete blocks, bricks or pavers should not be used to make up the
numbers within your alpine construction. Unfortunately, all to often, this combination of incorrect rock
selection, straight planting lines and symmetrical plant placement immediately exposes a poorly built
rockery as man-made and contrived. An obvious crock of a rock(ery).
Locations.
There are certain areas of your garden that may lend themselves very well to a rockery placement. For
example, a bank of sloping ground that grows grass well enough, but proves un-mowable due to its
steepness, this could actually be a blessing in disguise. If this situation exists within your garden, lucky
you, utilise it, as rockeries often look their best when built into sloping ground or banked against a wall
even. Also, seek out sunny locations, constructing your rockery or rocky out-crop in a sun trap will benefit
the growth and blooming of the particular types of alpine plants which look most at home amongst the
rocks. Do not position the rockery near trees due partly to the shade factor; another problem with trees is
the fact that water falling from the leaves outer edge (drip-line) onto alpine plants can quickly reduce them
to soggy rotten specimens.
It would also be ideal if the rockery had some shelter from harsh winds, enabling the plants to retain fresh
new growth and flowers for as long as possible.
thee main purpose for the creation of a rockery area within your garden is to provide a backdrop and
growing site for the planting of alpines.
Alpines or alpine plants are usually low growing specimens, which have the uncanny ability to thrive in
tough surroundings, comparable to their origins atop the Alps, Himalayas and Andes. An alpine is the
common name given to any plant found on the slopes of mountains such as these, at a height above
which trees fail to grow. As water can be limited where they grow in the wild, quite a few alpines have
taken on a low cushion form, while others have fleshy or hairy leaves to prevent excessive water loss,
leading to the plant drying out. Most alpines can also withstand low temperatures and cold winds, but
have a strong dislike of excessive rain.