| It has only been in the last decade that the choice of | | | | decoration and with the wealth of TV programmes |
| hard landscaping and features has become much | | | | and magazines dedicated to garden design; this is |
| greater and more varied. Before, gardeners and | | | | hunger for good design choice is emanating in bucket |
| landscapers made do with what was available - using | | | | loads to the living space outside.o New |
| local stone for patios and paths, local wood for | | | | weather-resistant materials are becoming available |
| summerhouses and latterly who can forget the use | | | | and we are learning how to use them from |
| of ugly council slabs to create that infamous crazy | | | | aforementioned books, TV programmes and |
| paving effect. | | | | magazines |
| The advantage of using materials from the local | | | | When selecting material for hard landscaping in the |
| environment is that it carries an inherent link with the | | | | garden, one of the most important rules is, "less is |
| surrounding landscape and with the building to which it | | | | more". Choose just one or two complimentary |
| is attached, which consequentially might also be | | | | landscaping materials and make sure they suit the |
| constructed from local brick or stone. If in an estate, | | | | style of the garden rather than just follow latest |
| these materials will have often been used across | | | | design trends. |
| many of the surrounding properties. But today, | | | | Garden designers driven by new, sharp edged |
| thankfully we have a much, much greater choice. | | | | contemporary metals such as stainless steel and |
| The range of materials available to us has broadened | | | | aluminum will find their choice might work perfectly in |
| for a number of reasons:o Falling transport costs has | | | | a cool, sleek modern garden but fall flat in a more |
| made it more viable to import more decedent | | | | traditional setting such as a English Cottage garden. |
| materials such as heavy stone from around the | | | | Having said that, there's a substantial range of very |
| world, a good example is the sudden influx of | | | | interesting new materials and it might be worth |
| Chinese, Indian and even Egyptian Stone.o We have | | | | revisiting some that have been out of favour for a |
| become material mad and demand more choice. This | | | | while, such as terrazzo. |
| hunger for choice is already reflected in our home | | | | |