It’s great to have an outdoor living space, but if it isn’t integrated into its surroundings, it can look stark and unnatural. A softscape can seamlessly transition your patio, deck or other hardscape into your yard. We had the opportunity to bring this type of design to a home in Carmel, IN. The homeowners had just built a large outdoor living space, including a patio, roof structure and hot tub. However, the building process had required them to take out some of their backyard landscape, resulting in a gorgeous deck area surrounded by not so gorgeous dirt. Our clients brought us in to complete the transformation of their yard into the outdoor living space they were looking for.

Creating the right landscaping design entails more than just adding plant beds—the design should fit the style of the home and surrounding landscape, including other touches of nature. With these clients, we were not working with a blank slate. Their backyard had been heavily gardened with a nice hosta collection and garden paths throughout. Our design had to complement the work they had already put into their landscaping. We chose plants that would provide a lot of summer color and interest, as well as hemlock evergreens, which had been in the original landscaping.

We took out a wooden retaining wall that was falling apart and replaced it with big natural boulders.

This design feature eliminated the cost of building a new paver or brick retaining wall, while adding to the natural look we were trying to achieve. We also used natural flat stone steps for a new path that connected the patio, lawn and front yard.

To create a welcoming entrance, we built an arbor over the connecting path and added more landscaping to the front of the house. In this area we went a little more formal, creating square plant beds for a structured look.

We also helped our clients fix their gas line and irrigation system, which were reconfigured incorrectly during the patio build. Our extensive experience in both landscaping and hardscape projects has made us jacks-of-all-trades, allowing us to handle most yard-related issues that arise.

We have been doing regular maintenance on this property since, keeping their yard looking tidy and crisp. We love coming back each time, following our work through the seasons, and seeing how much our clients are enjoying their outdoor living space.

Questions about this project? Send us an email or give us a call at (317) 997-4803.

Eagleson Landscape Company provides landscape and hardscape services in the Greater Indianapolis area, including Carmel, Zionsville, Westfield, Fishers and Geist.