Tips to Transform Your Backyard with Hardscaping
Staring out at your uninspiring backyard can feel overwhelming. A blank canvas of grass or dirt holds so much potential, but where do you even start?
Hardscaping can be the framework around which your entire outdoor living space is built.
It offers a variety of ways to transform the aesthetics, functions, and flow of any outdoor space. Hardscaping can create pathways, divide a space, create privacy, and improve drainage, among other benefits and options.
As you begin to plan your backyard transformation, here are a few considerations to keep in mind.
What Exactly Is Hardscaping?
Before diving into the transformation process, let’s clarify what hardscaping actually means.
“Hardscapes are the durable elements in a landscape,” said Robert Bowers, VP of Engineering – Hardscapes at the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association (CMHA). “You could define it as: a landscape is made up of softscapes, which are your plants, and hardscapes, which are the more durable.”
Hardscaping includes the design elements in your space like concrete, rocks, bricks, pavers, stone, wood, and the man-made features built with these hard materials in your outdoor space – elements like paver patios, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, fire pits, seating areas, and walkways.
Start With How You’ll Use the Space
In order to transform your backyard into your personal outdoor oasis, it’s important that it fits your specific needs.
“The first thing I always ask is how they’re going to use the space,” said Harrison Woytko, President of Boulder Landscape, LLC. “Do you have a big family? Young children? Do you have friends over often? Do you want a place to have dinner outside when it’s warm? This gets homeowners thinking about why they want this space.”
Consider questions like:
- How much time will you realistically spend outdoors?
- What activities do you want to do in your backyard?
- Will it primarily be for immediate family use or entertaining larger groups?
- What seasons will you use the space most?
- How do you want to feel when you are in your backyard?
- Will the use of your outdoor space change over time?
“Most people get into the details too soon,” said Gary Stowe, President of Stowe Contracting. “They’re deciding about what pavers to use and specific products before they’ve even figured out how they’ll actually use the space. Make a list of what you’d like to do and what’s most important to you. What are you going to use the most?”
Don’t Limit Yourself to What Already Exists
Once you have your guiding ideas for use, the transformation process begins with allowing yourself to imagine the possibilities.
“I encourage homeowners to imagine what they would like and not be constrained by what they have or what they’ve seen. I try to get them to think about what would be their wish. What would they like to be able to do? For example, instead of having the driveway that just goes into the garage and backs out onto the street, do you want a turnaround?” Stowe said.
“The initial stage is where all your ideas and all your dreams should be put out there. Not all of them are going to work. Some of them are going to be too expensive, but this is when you explore the different possibilities.”
Hardscaping offers flexibility that traditional poured concrete doesn’t. Stowe said one of the biggest mistakes he sees is when homeowners limit themselves to standard, straight-line designs.
“There are no straight lines in nature,” Stowe said. “We don’t have to make straight lines. We can follow where you think you might want it to go and let it curve. It creates more natural spaces that have much more interest than just squaring things off.”
Consider Your Home’s Interior Connection
An often-overlooked aspect of backyard design is how your outdoor space will connect with your home’s interior.
“I try to go inside and ask what room is this – the kitchen, family room, sunroom?” said Woytko. “Based on the layout of the house, how do those rooms inside lead outside?”
This can be both for practical reasons, such as connecting a kitchen to an outdoor dining area, or for an aesthetic reason.
This connection point can be particularly important in regions with distinct seasons.
“We have about seven months of nice weather but five months where you don’t always spend time outside,” Woytko said, noting his location in Pennsylvania. “You may not be using that space outside, but you like to look at it from indoors.”
Creating visual focal points that can be enjoyed from inside your home adds year-round value to your hardscaping investment.
Create Defined Spaces
Think of your hardscaping as the foundation for the entire outdoor living experience. Rather than creating one large patio area, consider delineating spaces with specific purposes.
“Pavers are really the canvas that you dress up with everything else,” Stowe said.
Hardscaping can help define these areas through slight elevation changes, low seating walls, or different paver patterns or colors. It can also be accentuated through lighting or landscaping.
“Don’t just go out there and put a big slab out and plop down a kitchen here and a table over there and a fire pit here,” Stowe said. “Try to separate those areas a little bit. Just like in your house, you might make a dining area, a fire pit or conversation area, and another area for lounge chairs where you sit and read in the afternoon.”
Work With Your Property’s Natural Features
Every property has unique characteristics that can either enhance or challenge your hardscaping plans. Rather than fighting against them, experienced hardscapers recommend working with these features.
“What type of space do you have available? Is it a flat lot? A sloping lot? Is there a view you want to take in?” Stowe said. “Then you can start to create the background behind that.”
Hardscaping offers many ways to make your backyard work for you.
“Retaining walls take what is typically sloped, unusable space and create a flat area to build upon,” Bowers said.
“You can use elevation changes to your advantage,” Woytko said. “If you have a steep bank that’s difficult to mow, you can use retaining walls to make planter beds, steps, elevated or sunken patios, or even water features to help create different spaces. Hardscapes are great for helping to create different patio levels. You can also integrate drainage features with walls to help solve steep bank issues.”
Be Aware of Climate Considerations
Your local climate should significantly influence your choices for creating your outdoor space.
What works perfectly in a dry climate might not work in areas with frequent freeze-thaw cycles or coastal environments. This could determine what structures and features you ultimately include in your backyard.
For instance, Stowe is located in Marina, CA. He said he typically advises people to skip adding a pool because they only get a couple of days a year to enjoy it. Instead, he tries to guide people to build features they will be able to use for the long-term, factoring in everything from the temperature to enjoy it to the way the materials will hold up in the environment.
“In coastal areas like mine, salt air comes in with the fog and just destroys things,” Stowe said. “For instance, if you’re using any metal, it has to be hot-dip galvanized or copper. Otherwise, within a year, things turn into a rusty hulk.”
It’s good to have an idea of what you want, but be willing to be flexible! Working with an experienced hardscaping professional who understands the local weather patterns helps ensure your outdoor living spaces will stand up to your specific environmental challenges for decades to come.
Consider Zoning and Permit Requirements Early
Be aware that certain hardscaping elements may require permits or need to meet local regulations.
“Most patios don’t require permits,” Stowe said. “But as you start adding kitchens, plumbing, electrical, and certainly gas, then you start getting into the need for permits.”
Many municipalities also have impermeability ratio requirements to maintain drainage and prevent runoff. These requirements impose limits on how much of your property can be covered with non-permeable surfaces. This is where permeable pavers can be particularly valuable.
Permeable Interlocking Concrete Pavement, also known as permeable pavers, absorb and detain rainwater, allowing it to slowly infiltrate into the ground instead of overwhelming municipal infrastructure. This distributed stormwater management approach reduces runoff volume, minimizes erosion, and lessens the strain on our over taxed stormwater systems.
“A lot of municipalities and cities are accepting permeable pavers as not contributing to that impermeability ratio,” Bowers said. “When somebody wants to widen their driveway or put in a patio but they’re already at their impermeable ratio limit, permeable pavers can be an acceptable option.”
Choose the Right Professional
Though the number of options may seem overwhelming, choosing the right professional can guide you every step of the way.
“Look for somebody that’s done their homework, has done projects similar to yours,” Stowe said.
Remember that hardscaping is a specialized skill. You want to select a hardscaping contractor you can trust and that fits your style and needs.
“I wish every homeowner understood the skill level that professional hardscapers have when it comes to designing and building an outdoor space,” Woytko said. “It’s a skill that we take pride in. It should be considered a technical skill set that requires us to be educated professionals in our field. A homeowner should know that they’re hiring somebody that knows what they’re doing and that it’s going to be an end product that will last a lifetime.”
The CMHA specifically recommends hiring a Certified Concrete Paver Installer for your project. These professionals have demonstrated their knowledge and expertise through rigorous certification processes.
You can find certified hardscape professionals through the CMHA’s hardscape contractor directory and certified installers directory.
The Value of Hardscaping
From adaptability to sustainability to longevity to creativity, quality hardscaping is investment both in your property’s value and your lifestyle.
Rather than trying to do everything at once, focus on what matters most.
For example, if you love to grill and eat outside with family, prioritize an outdoor kitchen area with quality countertops and proper seating. If evening relaxation is your goal, a well-designed fire pit area might be more important than an elaborate outdoor kitchen you’ll rarely use.
“Spend your money where you spend your time,” Woytko said.
You can also consider taking a phased approach to construction, breaking your complete backyard vision into manageable (and more budget-friendly!) steps over time.
With thoughtful planning and professional guidance, that boring backyard can become the outdoor living space you’ve always wanted—a personalized extension of your home that adds value, functionality, and joy to your everyday life.