What Is Hardscape and What Can It Do for Your Business?

The first thing that comes to most people's minds when considering landscaping is the organic elements—flowerbeds, gardens, vines and so on. But getting increasing attention are those inorganic components, such as decks, patios and stone pathways. There's a growing push for more comfortable outdoor meeting, event and relaxation spaces by commercial property owners and businesses within them.

Hardscape represents a natural business opportunity for landscaping businesses and design firms that want to expand their offerings, particularly in the off-season.

What is hardscape?

There are two major subcategories of landscaping. The first is called softscape, which includes living elements, such as plants, trees, shrubs and grass. Then, there's hardscape, which covers the non-living, human-made elements in landscaping, such as a brick patio, stone fire pit, retaining wall, wooden gazebo or pergola.

Hardscaping is becoming an increasingly popular and lucrative landscaping subcategory. According to industry research by Freedonia, the demand for hardscaping products is forecast to rise 3.3% per year to $3.9 billion in 2025.

While outdoor living has long been popular in warmer parts of the country, the pandemic pushed more homeowners to expand and improve their outdoor spaces. Hardscape projects, like outdoor living areas, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, water features and outdoor pizza ovens were on many homeowners' wish lists.

Similarly, businesses had to rethink their outdoor spaces to accommodate customers and social distancing requirements. Businesses looked into expanding walkways and pathways, adding decks and patios for outdoor dining, or installing pergolas and arbors to provide customers with privacy.

The recent boom in hardscaping isn't just about aesthetics. There's also a sustainability component. As clients look for more climate-resistant landscape options, designs that incorporate hardscaping—such as retaining walls, gravel or concrete paths, and edging or permeable pavers—can reduce water usage and help prevent pollutant runoff.

Incorporating hardscaping into your landscaping business

What is hardscape? For some landscape and design businesses, it can be a major business booster. Pairing hardscaping with landscaping is a smart business move for landscape business owners, particularly during the off-season.

Most landscaping companies already offer a multitude of services—from yard care and maintenance to large-scale garden builds. Plus, many landscaping companies already have the specialized equipment and technology, ready access to materials and trained employees necessary to complete an outdoor project. Business owners who have a relationship with their financial institution can also easily finance or lease additional equipment or apply for a loan. Calculate whether a loan or line of credit is the right choice for your initial hardscaping cost.

Adding hardscape to your landscape offerings allows a landscape business to be a one-stop shop for their customers who want the ease and convenience of dealing with just one contractor for their commercial or residential outdoor projects.

Watch your business grow

There comes a time in the life of many landscaping businesses when expanding services and seeking additional revenue streams makes sense. If now is the time to grow your landscaping business, adding hardscaping to your offerings can be a straightforward and worthwhile way to increase your bottom line.