If you are planning to update your landscaping, you should consider hiring a hardscaping service. This is using non-living materials instead of living plants, bushes, and trees, to add even more to your landscaping. Below are three types of hardscaping the service may use in your yard. 

Use Landscape Rocks

Adding landscaping rocks to your landscape can make it look even better. You can use these rocks in many ways. You can use landscape rocks to replace mulch in your flower gardens. They still offer the same benefit as traditional mulch but these rocks last much longer. This means you do not have to replace them each year, which saves you money and time. Landscape rocks can also be used as edging around flower gardens. 

You can use rocks to make a walkway in your yard.  To do this plan where you want a walkway and stake it, so you know where to lay the rocks. Remove grass and any other vegetation so you only have soil. The contractor digs a few inches deep and then lays landscaping fabric in the trench. This will prevent the rocks from sinking. They then lay the rocks onto the path and tamp them down to secure them in place. An edging is generally placed along the path to hold the landscape rocks in. 

Install a Patio 

If you would like to install a patio, the hardscaping service can help install it for you. This may be pouring concrete to create the patio surface. Concrete can be colored, or you can use stamps on the concrete to make it look more interesting for a patio. They may also use brick pavers to create the flooring for the patio and more. 

The hardscaping service can also create a patio cover for you made of aluminum, vinyl, etc. Having a patio cover will allow you to spend more time on the patio as the cover protects you from rain, the hot sun, and more. 

Install a Pergola or Gazebo

A pergola or a gazebo is a freestanding structure that can come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and materials. Pressure-treated wood, vinyl, cedar, fiberglass, and metal are often used for these structures. When considering the shape and size consider how many people will use the pergola or gazebo at one time. You can also install seating inside the structure. 

Choose where you want to place the structure in your yard.  You could place one near a firepit, at the end of a walkway, near your flower gardens, and more. This will give people a place to stop and sit and get out of the hot sun. 

Talk with a hardscaping service to learn much more about how they can help you.