Hardscaping adds prestige and elegance to any yard. Whether you have boulder retaining walls, a stone driveway, brick pavers, seat walls, or water and fire features in your yard, all hardscape requires some simple preventative maintenance in order to keep your investment beautiful. Fortunately, these things don’t require constant attention. Usually, most homeowners can get away with taking care of their hardscape on an annual basis, or maybe even every other year. At Landscape Designers of Michigan, we offer the following tips to homeowners who want to ensure proper maintenance of their hardscaping.
Products designed to hold pavers and flagstone in place have come a long way. Patios used to be prone to weeds growing in the cracks and the sand between pavers or rocks becoming brittle, cracking, and losing its cohesive properties. Depending on the material that was used in your patio or walkway installation, you might not need to do anything to it, but if you notice weeds between pavers or rocks, it’s important to take action. It’s best to let the experts handle this because if you disturb the patio with a high pressure hose or power washer, you might damage your patio or walkway.
Sometimes rocks will collect moss, especially if they face north. If your boulder wall is turning a shade of green and you want to restore its appearance, you can power-wash each boulder using an environmentally safe soap solution. Always start out using the least amount of pressure as possible in order to avoid damaging the rocks. Moss that grows on patios or walkways needs attention too because this can cause a tripping hazard as moss can be slippery than a banana peel!
If mortar was used to hold bricks in place surrounding a BBQ grill, examine the mortar annually and if there are cracks, you will need to seal the crack to prevent the brick from crumbling during the thaw-freeze cycle of winter.
For the most part, hardscape is maintenance free, but to prevent costly repairs, it’s best to examine your hardscaping annually and fix small problems before they worsen. If you are in need of maintenance services for your hardscaping, contact us today!