Softscape Plantings

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Elevelate Your Home with Professional Softscape Planting Design in Northeast Ohio 

When you think of a stunning home, the image often includes more than just the architecture.  It includes the vibrant colors of blooming perennials, the structural elegance of ornamental trees, and the lush greenery that frames a property.  This is the art of softscape planting design.


While hardscape refers to the heavy, non-living elements like patios and walkways, softscape encompasses all the living, breathing elements of your landscape, including:


  • Deciduous and evergreen trees for structure and shade
  • Flowering shrubs and hedges for privacy and "living walls"
  • Perennials and annuals for seasonal bursts of color
  • Ornamental grasses and ground covers for texture and depth


At Chidsey Landscape & Design, we specialize in transforming ordinary yards into extraordinary outdoor sanctuaries.  Serving Medina, Cuyahoga, Lorain, Summit, and Wayne Counties, our team brings expert horticultural knowledge and award-winning design to every project.

Custom softscape planting design and installation with Chidsey Landscape & Design serving Medina County, Cuyahoga County, Summit County, Lorain County, and Wayne County Ohio.

Bringing Your Landscape To Life:

The Art of Softscape Installation

A patio without plants is just a slab of paving stones; a walkway without a border is just a path.  While hardscaping provides the "bones" or structure of your outdoor living space, it is the softscape - the trees, shrubs, and flowers - that provides the soul.


At Chidsey Landscape & Design, we view softscape as the essential connective tissue of your property.  Here is how professional planting design unifies your outdoor vision and brings a static landscape to life.

Softening the "Hard" Edges

Stone, brick, and concrete are naturally cold and linear.  Without greenery, a new paver patio or retaining wall can look stark and disconnected from the surrounding environment.


Softscape plantings act as a visual bridge, softening the hard angles of masonry.  By layering low-growing perennials or cascading groundcovers against a stone wall, we create a seamless transition that makes your man-made structures feel like a natural extension of the earth.

Unifying Outdoor Rooms

If your landscape features multiple elements - such as a seating area, a fire pit, and a separate outdoor kitchen - it can often feel fragmented.  We use softscaping to unify the design through:


  • Visual Continuity:  Repeating specific colors, textures, or plant species across different areas of the yard to create a harmonious flow
  • Living Hallways:  Using manicured hedges or ornamental grass borders to guide guests from one outdoor room to the next
  • Framing The View:  Strategically placed upright evergreens or flowering trees act as natural frames for your favorite outdoor features, drawing the eye exactly where it needs to go
Wayne County home front entrance with lush garden planting beds and softscape landscape design that soften paver walkway and concrete driveway by Chidsey Landscape & Design.

Sensory Experience

Hardscapes are permanent and unmoving.  Softscapes are dynamic.  They introduce sensory elements that hard surfaces simply cannot provide.


  • Movement:  The gentle sway of ornamental grasses in a light breeze adds a rhythmic motion to your backyard
  • Sound:  The rustle of leaves or the buzzing of pollinators visiting your garden creates a living soundscape that masks neighborhood noise
  • Fragrance:  Plants such as lavender near a seating wall or lilac near a patio entrance ensures that your landscape smells as beautiful as it looks
Cuyahoga County Ohio garden with softscape planting landscape and natural landscape outcroppings that provide a sensory experience.
Softscape plantings with evergreens, flowers, and shrubs that unify Medina, Ohio backyard outdoor rooms and retaining wall
  • Natural evergreens and shrubs create a softscape privacy screen for a Summit County Ohio pool.

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  • Professional front yard softscape design with colorful perennials and annual and manicured shrubs in Medina, OH

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  • Layered garden bed installation with perennials and shrubs that softens walkway hardscape in Cuyahoga County, Ohio

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  • Closeup of pink and purple Crocus perennials in softscape planting garden bed of Wayne county Ohio backyard.

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  • Front entrance walkway of Medina, OH home filled with lush ornamental shrubs, hostas, and evergreens with natural landscape barnstone pillars.

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Benefits of Professional Softscape Design

Investing in a professionally designed softscape is about more than just planting flowers.  It is a strategic improvement to your home's ecosystem and value.

Enhanced Curb Appeal & Home Value

First impressions are everything. A thoughtfully layered garden bed signals that a home is well-cared for. Real estate experts agree that professional landscaping can significantly increase a home’s resale value and help it sell faster by creating an emotional connection with potential buyers.

Natural Privacy & Noise Reduction

Tired of seeing the neighbor’s driveway? Strategically placed evergreens and dense shrubs act as "living screens," providing natural privacy without the harsh look of a wooden fence. These plantings also act as sound buffers, absorbing street noise to create a quieter, more peaceful backyard.

Environmental & Health Benefits

Plants are nature’s air filters, absorbing pollutants and releasing fresh oxygen. Beyond air quality, a lush softscape provides temperature regulation with shade, erosion control by stabilizing soil and managing water runoff, and stress relief by reducing cortisol levels and boosting mental well-being.

The Chidsey Difference:

Selecting the right plants for the Northeast Ohio climate is a science, and at Chidsey Landscape & Design, we take the guesswork out of the softscape planting design process.  Led by Jerry Chidsey, a graduate of The Ohio State University in Landscape Design, our team understands the complexity of "living art" and are experts at designing inter-layered, weaved planting schemes that offer four-season interest.  By using our 3D landscape design renderings, you don't have to imagine what your garden will look like...you can see color schemes, sunlight and shade times, and how your plants will look as they mature.

Ready to add a softscape planting design to your home?

Whether you have a blank slate at a newly built home or an overgrown garden in need of a renovation, we're here to help!  Schedule your sofscape landscape design consultation TODAY!


Simply complete the form, tell us a little bit about your project, and we will reach out to you soon.  We look forward to working with you!