What is landscaping?

“What is landscaping?”

“What does landscaping really mean? Isn’t it just a kind of professional gardening?”

Actually, no.  Frequently, home owners (and other property owners) confuse landscaping and landscape design with gardening.

Gardening is about cultivating and growing plants for personal or medicinal purposes. For many people, especially here in WNC, gardening is seen a wonderfully relaxing and useful hobby.

On the other hand, LandscapingNetwork.com defines landscaping “As the addition of plants, manipulation of terrain and the construction of structures.  Landscapes can be purely aesthetic or serve a function such as outdoor cooking.”

This means that while a gardener may have many years of experience and detailed knowledge, they usually only grow plants as a personal pastime or for the produce that a garden provides.

A professional landscaper or landscape designer however works on a much larger scale. Their primary job is to use landscaping to increase the value and visual appeal of a piece of land.

This requires an advanced knowledge of horticulture (the science of growing and cultivating plants), an expertise in land management and erosion control as well as artistic design and landscape construction.

Landscaping is actually a very structured process of modifying your yard or a piece of commercial property to make it more visually appealing and functional (comfortable) by:

  • Altering or changing the existing terrain (shape of the land),
  • Using customized plant layouts and placement (design),
  • Planting new trees, shrubs and/or flowers beds (installation),
  • Adding non-living elements such as stone, boulders, water features, garden statues or fire pits (ornamental features).
  • Reshaping terrain to prevent or control erosion, mudslides (land management)
  • Building structural elements such as retaining walls, patios, steps, paths and walkways (hardscaping)

Not only will landscaping increase the utility of your yard or outdoor living space but it can also dramatically improve its beauty and increase its resale values.

Now that you understand what landscaping is, if you would like to discuss your next landscaping project or get a free garden consultation, we invite you to > contact us here.