Installing a lush landscape is usually one of the first things associations do to increase curb appeal, and ultimately, market value. Sure, dense shrubbery, towering palm trees and vibrant flowerbeds will catch prospective buyers’ eyes, but beautiful green landscapes are a dime a dozen is tropical Florida. Hardscaping—the use in a landscape design of non-living elements such as pavers, rocks, and trellises— is a great way to turn up a basic garden and set your association apart from others.

“The difference in what they call hardscaping is that could be anything that is a hard surface such as a paver black or natural stone,” says Mac Garner, designer, salesman, estimator and co-owner of Tampa-based TropicScapes. “A lot of folks confuse the two, the words: landscaping and hardscaping, but hardscaping can be a part of landscaping and landscaping mostly consists of plants, shrubs, trees, ground covers and that type of thing.”

Firepits, pergolas, arbors and walkways made of natural stone or crushed shells are popular hardscaping requests from Tampa residents, Garner says.

A Lot or a Little

Implementing some hardscaping in a common garden area does not have to result in a massive overhaul. HOAs and condominiums may just want to add a path of pavers or plant a few rocks to liven up an existing garden, and the experts recommend proper planning before anything is done. Unlike landscape planning, in which factors such as soil quality or climate come into play, the main factor to consider when hardscaping is proposed is elevation, Garner says.

The pros say other issues to consider include:

• Do existing garden beds have borders or curbs? If not, and you just lay stones around them, rain may wash away the stones.

• How deep is the soil bed? Is it deep enough to remove soil and install a liner beneath the rocks?

• To build a driveway, after you remove the sod and soil bed, will you need a Bobcat to break up the limestone under the soil before pouring concrete or creating a silica sand base for pavers?

• Is the drainage suitable, or does the area being worked on need regrading? You don’t want to direct runoff toward buildings, sidewalks, and parking lots, or create depressions where puddles linger after each heavy rain.

Kent Rodahaver, owner of GreenScapes Landscape Design in St. Petersburg, says association boards may have a wish list and budgetary constraints. “The challenge is to meet somewhere in the middle and have everyone happy,” he says. “Sometimes we can use different materials that mimic more expensive materials, so we get a similar effect for less money.”

The Heat-Island Effect

In your planning, consider the timing and duration of direct sunlight on your hardscape at various seasons of the year. You want to avoid the heat-island effect—the elevated temperatures that result where hard non-living surfaces capture and exude heat.

“Strategically locate your hardscapes where some shade already is present, or where the building will shade them for part of the day,” explains Bryan Donahue, director of the landscape architecture division at Land Design South, a land planning/landscape architecture firm with locations in Orlando, Port St. Lucie and West Palm Beach. “Shade is very important. If you add hardscape, add more landscape area. Add a gazebo, or a new patio with canopy trees to provide shade and drop the temperature in those areas.

“A large water feature in the midst of a hardscape also can reduce the heat-island effect, even if the temperature in direct sun is 90 degrees F. If you’re building a large patio, put a fountain or waterfall on one side or in the middle to absorb some of the sun’s heat,” he says.

Another way to combat the heat-island effect is to use light-colored paving. Black asphalt retains more heat. So does gray cement, which is used to make concrete in red and other dark colors. White cement, used for light-colored concrete, retains less heat and will be somewhat cooler—a benefit on pool decks where people walk barefoot. Natural stone and wood are even cooler than concrete.

Maintaining a Hardscape

In general, hardscapes require much less maintenance than landscapes full of growing plants. Donahue recommends pressure-washing a concrete-paver patio once or twice a year to control buildup of algae, dirt, and mold in the cracks. “If you get weeds popping up through joints in the pavers, you’ll want to spray them with an herbicide,” he says.

Some hardscape surfaces employ higher-end natural stone products such as marble, travertine and slate, which require periodic sealing to protect the stone from staining. Every six months to a year, such products should be pressure-washed and resealed.

Walkways, patios, and other paved surfaces may settle over time. “After five or 10 years, you may need to pop a couple of pavers out and put some fill in under them,” Donahue says. “With concrete, you would have to remove a section and repour. The paver system is much easier to maintain and to fix problems.”

“You may have to monitor a rock garden or rock path for movement from erosion,” Rodahaver says. “With crushed shell you may get a washout. We use crushed shell quite a bit for driveways and pathways. It’s abundant in Florida, attractive, inexpensive, and very hardy.”

The heavy iron content of the water used in many Florida irrigation systems may discolor porous surfaces, but Rodahaver says stain-removal products exist. “Apply such a product annually, or as needed,” he advises.

A hardscape garden with no plant materials can be essentially maintenance-free, aside from a little bit of preventative action, Garner says. “There is a little bit of maintenance, but most maintenance can be prevented if three to four months after the hardscapes are cured, they are sprayed with a sealant. That’s important in Florida because of all the UV rays, the sun we have down here is so intense, so if you seal it will help the maintenance go down tremendously,” Garner says. “A shady environment can sometimes grow more mold on a hardscape or stone product. My patio out back is under a lot of thick oak trees but it was sealed, and it was protected and hasn’t grown anything on it for close to a year.”

For a hardscape that contains some plantings, the pros recommend anti-fungus treatment; annual application of a fertilizer containing two percent nitrogen, six percent potassium and eight percent phosphorus; and periodic pruning and weeding to maintain the garden’s appearance.

Choosing the Right Professional

When you consider a hardscaping project, first ensure that the person or company you choose to work with has appropriate training and credentials. What constitutes the “right” credentials depends on where you’re located and what you want done. The state has requirements, and so do some individual counties and municipalities. Miami-Dade County, for instance, says all landscapers must have an occupational license, but that alone lets them perform only the simplest of hardscaping tasks.

A state-licensed building contractor should be involved in any hardscaping project that entails construction, such as a driveway requiring excavation and pouring concrete, or a structure such as a gazebo, trellis or pergola. Florida also requires an engineering concrete license for basic concrete work, a separate finishing license for brush and concrete coloring work, and a specialty license for paver and tile work.

Other available credentials include a state license as a commercial landscape maintenance company, Green Industries BMP (Best Management Practices) Certification, certification as a Landscape BMP Trainer, and various federal and state Environmental Protection Agency certifications.

In addition, trade and professional associations have their own certification and designation programs, some of which provide continuing education credits used to gain and maintain state certifications. They include the American Concrete Institute, the Interlocking Concrete Pavement Institute, the Marble Institute of America, the National Tile Contractors Association, and the Tile Contractors’ Association of America.

“I’m a huge advocate for education,” Rodahaver says. “We compete on a daily basis with folks who aren’t certified, licensed, or insured. We clean up after such people.”

George Leposky is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to The Western and Central Florida Cooperator. Editorial Assistant Enjolie Esteve contributed to this article.