Hardscaping in New Hampshire: How to use it to enhance your Landscape

‘Hardscapes’ are any feature in the landscape with a ‘hard’ surface.  This includes patios, walks, stone pathways, stairs, decks, pergolas, fountains, paver or blacktop driveways, retaining walls, Fireplaces, and outdoor kitchens, among others.

‘Softscapes’ are things like lawns, trees, shrubs, flowers and mulch.

The hardscaping features of your landscape are what are referred to as the skeleton or backbone to any design.  Shapes that are created with hardscaping set the stage for everything else.  Think of a curved retaining wall… how it defines the shape of the surrounding bed.  Also think of a front walkway.  Sometimes a front walk is just a straight shot to the door.  This can be visually boring.  Why not make it more curved and give it some pizzaz?  It will help define the look of everything else around it. 

Hardscaping often is necessary in order to hold back a hill or make a safe way to walk.  So, it’s all about the age-old FORM AND FUNCTION idea.  Form does follow function, as the saying goes.  

First let’s imagine a scenario:  You are in a serene setting at a vacation home that has fabulous hardscaping and landscaping (softscapes).  You enter the property on a paver driveway that has some gorgeous stone columns that welcome you as you come off the street.  It is just turning dusk outside, so the charm of the night lighting just comes on.  When you get out of your car, you start towards the house on a nicely curved paver walkway.  If it’s a winter vacation home, maybe the driveway and front walkway are heated! – use your imagination here.  The front porch has wide old granite stone steps.  After you bring in your luggage, you step out of the sliding doors on the lake-side of the home onto a sunny stone patio that overlooks the lake.  The land starts to slope down towards the lake, so the patio is held up with a stone retaining wall.  There is a set of curving stone stairs that bring you down off the patio to a stone path that meanders down the slope to the lake.  Along this shady path to the lake, you find a screened in Pergola, which is a great place to get away from the bugs in the summertime.  At the lakeshore, there is a small “perched beach”.  A perched beach is a way of doing a beach that keeps the sand up and away from the lake.  It’s basically a shorter wall at the water line with a couple of steps into the water, then the sand, and then an upper wall with stairs through it to the lawn.  I can discuss perched beaches with you if you have shorefront property.  The hardscapes on the lake-side of the home have been kept more ‘natural’ by using the natural stone materials.  The hardscapes on the entrance side of the home are done in pavers which is more practical for snow removal.  

Second scenario:  Look at this photo.  The function of the hardscaping here was the base point of where to start.  You can see that the grade had to be kept away from the house, and at the same time, there needed to be a safe way to get around that side of the house from one elevation to another.  The form followed the function.  Take another look.  Did you see it?  There is veneer on the side of the home.  The type of veneer that was chosen was done in order to match the look of the natural fieldstone as much as possible.   

Many types of materials are used in hardscaping.  Lots of choices exist for pavers.  Many shapes and colors can be combined to give you a beautiful effect.  Retaining walls also have a wide variety of optional concrete block materials to choose from.  

Natural stone is a great choice for hardscaping features.  Nothing is classier or more beautiful and enduring.  Again, there are many styles to choose from with natural stone.  From Boulders to Fieldstone to irregular bluestone to cut granite.  Each lends its own unique purpose and style.

As a Landscape Designer, I’d love to come take a look at your upcoming hardscape projects.

Blending the hardscape elements in your landscaping is a landscape designer’s delight!  This is the essence of design.  To make the landscaping interesting and functional.  

DES permits for hardscaping in New Hampshire

Hardscaping in New Hampshire will get counted towards ‘impervious surface’ coverages according to the NHDES (New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services).  Therefore, the square footage of the hardscapes will need to be considered if your property falls under DES jurisdiction.  Basically, this is any property within 250’ of a New Hampshire water body.  Of course, we will check to be sure.  There’s always an exception to the rule.  Have you heard of “Pervious Pavers”?  Pervious pavers (a.k.a. permeable pavers) are referred to as “Paving Systems”.  They are pavers that are designed to have gaps where water passes through into a specially designed base that holds the water and then disperses it into the ground.  This type of hardscaping, called ‘pervious pavers’, is the type of pavers that the NHDES wants to have implemented on shorefront properties.  It is also very useful on properties where there are water issues that this system might work well for.  

There are other hard surfaces counted in NHDES permitting, even though they may not technically be ‘hardscaping’.  By this, I mean, things such as large stepping stones, a canoe rack with a small roof, a woodshed, a small storage shed and the like.  These are items that might end up getting counted in the DES calculations towards the ‘impervious surface’ coverages on your lot.  They are simply areas where water won’t hit the ground.  So, a roof, or things such as that might get counted.  These are not necessarily “hardscaping” features but thought this may be a good opportunity to make you aware of them.  

Hardscaping can add to the value of your home and property.  Even though hardscapes can be expensive, they can really add a lot of value.  Features such as natural bluestone patios with a fireplace and a gorgeous stone retaining wall can make your yard much more livable and add to the overall functionality and visual appeal.  A prospective buyer loves to see well done professional hardscapes.  

For your enjoyment now, and for the future of your property, let’s talk about hardscaping.