422 Summary • Hardscapes are walkways, gathering areas, driveways, and often focal points in a landscape design that are made of inanimate materials, such as wood, stone, and concrete. • Walkways provide access to and from entryways, invite visitors to walk through the garden, and provide a clear and safe means of accomplishing chores, such as taking out the trash. • Patios and decks are recreational areas adjoining a building, such as a home, to extend the living area and are often used for outdoor dining. • Outdoor stairs should be constructed at the same standard height and width used for interior stairs for safety and ease of use. • A retaining wall is a structure that holds or retains the soil behind it to reduce soil loss through erosion as well as mitigate other soil moisture concerns. • A designer must consider multiple aspects of the site, including the slope of the land and the amount of daylight the area receives, especially at dusk and dawn, to ensure a safe hardscape. • Texture may be used to help reduce slipping and falling on a hardscape surface. • Patterns can be created with different materials and designed to mirror existing natural patterns or duplicate architectural patterns of existing structures. • When creating a landscape design, the designer must consider the fl ow of water as it contacts the surface of each hardscape material used in the design. • The permeability of a landscape material is measured by the amount of water it allows to pass through to the ground below. • Hardscape installations require standard calculations of area, volume, and materials such as bricks and pavers. • An impermeable hardscape must have at least a 1% slope away from an adjacent structure to direct water away from the structure and prevent water from fl owing under the structure and hardscape. • Unit pavers, stone, wood or wood composites, concrete, local or upcycled materials, asphalt, and gravel are common hardscape materials. • Installing a more permeable hardscape can reduce the impact a landscape design may have on the local environment. • Tamping is the process of packing (compacting) the subsurface of a hardscape to help level the site and minimize shifting. • Tools such as leveling devices, screeds, tampers, shovels, scoops, and brooms are needed for hardscape installation. • Effi cient scheduling and defi ned access to a site helps ensure a smoother work fl ow. • One of the key elements of hardscape construction is adequate compaction of the subsurface (the area below the fi nal surface).