Soft Landscaping and Hard Landscaping are essential elements of a good landscape design. Without the combination of soft and hard materials, a Landscape design will surely look incomplete and will surely be not up to the mark. Therefore, much like the mutual coordination between hardware and software of a computer for smooth functioning, there is also the requirement of a good mixture of soft as well as hard landscape materials for a proper well-built landscape design.
Differences between Hard and Soft Landscape
Hard landscape and Soft Landscape are the elements of Landscape design. But, Hardscape or Hard Landscape refers to the heavy elements of a Landscape design like stone, rocks, or driveways. On the other hand, Softscape or Soft landscape refers to the lighter elements of a Landscape design like soil, plants, flower, or even the color combination of a garden.
Let’s have a detailed look at the difference between hard landscape and Soft landscape-
hard Landscape – Hard Landscape consists of the hard elements of a landscape design. This is generally like the hardware of a computer. The larger pieces of a hard material of the landscape structure make up the bulk of the landscape design. They consist of materials like rocks, stones, or masonry. They are essentially required to create a sense of space and to give a complete look to a home. A hard Landscape not only gives an ideal look to a building but also helps in solving many basic problems like diverting water and drainage, figuring out outdoor living spaces, preventing erosion, and bringing a long-lasting effect to your home. Soft Landscape – The Softscape or the Soft Landscape is the living part of your landscape structure. The plants, the lawns, the trees, and the shrubs make up the components of Soft Landscape. For example, materials required to build a pond in a garden area are components of a Hard Landscape; however, the Pond itself is a part of a Soft Landscape.