Custom Hardscapes

Custom Hardscapes: Uniquely You

In landscaping lingo, hardscapes are the permanent features constructed on your property that serve both a functional and decorative purpose. Custom hardscapes are those structures that are designed specifically for you and your site. A few examples of custom hardscapes include your swimming pool construction and other water features such as a disappearing fountain or koi pond, luxury patios and garden pergolas.

A long list of materials is available to build these outdoor elements—metals, stone, brick, concrete, just to name a few. These materials are chosen for their texture, form and color, qualities that add interest to your overall design and that enhance the architecture of your home and the existing flora.

At Exterior Worlds, we believe hardscape plans begin with you, your family and what you want. For instance, will it be a quiet sanctuary in which you can retreat from the pressures of the outside world or do you intend to use it for formal entertaining? Perhaps you own an outdoor sculpture you want to feature or have a theme in mind, such as a Tuscan or English garden.

The next step entails hiring professionals, such as Exterior Worlds, to help with the planning, designing and building. We will ensure that your plans fit the style of your home. For instance, a landscape design filled with formal features works beautifully with a house done in Federal or English Tudor styles.

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After our plans have been presented to you and approved, then the permitting phase begins. This step is a key reason to hire us as we understand the local ordinances and codes, an expertise that will, in the long run, save you money.

Finally, we get to the implementation and project management phase. We will make sure you understand the timeline so that you can manage your expectations. After all, anticipation can increase your enjoyment!

If you are thinking more in terms of backyard remodeling, Exterior Worlds has a special proficiency in this area. Perhaps you need a swimming pool restoration or an alternative focal point, an upgraded fence or new paths to unite the space. Your Exterior Worlds design team can make it happen for you.

All these plans may sound grander than your current budget. If this is the case, consider landscape phasing, which involves implementing your landscape design in incremental steps over time. In this way, the draw-down on your finances is spread out, but you still get the improvements to your property. It just doesn’t happen all at once.

An example of a three-year phased-in plan, including custom hardscapes, might look like this:

Phase 1: Re-design and remodel your existing swimming pool. Plant new trees.

Phase 2: Design and install custom wrought iron fence and garden gates. Design and build garden arbor for climbing roses.

Phase 3: Create pathways to connect the swimming pool to the arbor. Expand and complete landscape lighting design. Finish all landscape plantings.

Just as with your interior design, your exterior design should be all about you—reflecting your aesthetics, needs and desires and planned for how you intend to use it. Custom hardscapes help you make the most of your exterior world and make it uniquely your own.

For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston’s fine neighborhoods.