Hardscape does not change. The patio you build today will look the same in five years, ten years, and twenty years. The stone holds its shape. The pavers stay where they were set. The wall does not grow, does not shift with the seasons, and does not surprise you in April with something it did not have in October.

Plantings do all of those things. They grow. They spread. They bloom, fade, drop leaves, go dormant, and come back differently the following spring. They respond to the soil, the light, the water, the temperature, and the company of the plants around them. They are the only part of the landscape that is genuinely alive, and that is what makes them the most powerful design element on the property and the most unforgiving when the choices are wrong.