Welcome to this week’s Hardscape Digest, a free bi-weekly newsletter from the team at Hardscape Magazine.
Each issue will cover the latest trends and news impacting the hardscape industry, featured projects, installation techniques, new tools, upcoming events and much, much more.
The bottom line up front
Record market growth: The global landscaping and hardscaping services market is projected to surpass $741 billion this year. This is being driven by a surge in real estate development and a major shift in consumer spending toward permanent, functional outdoor living spaces.
Graum + Techno-Bloc training course: Granum (the company behind LMN and Greenius) announced a major partnership with Techo-Bloc at HNA last year. They’re launching the 2026 Hardscaper Showcase Tour—a 23-city initiative designed to bring advanced business-management software, estimating tools, and workforce training directly to contractors.
Drought-resilient infrastructure: Across California, strict water conservation standards are driving hardscape innovation. There’s a massive push toward permeable interlocking concrete pavements (PICP) and strategic grading to manage runoff and allow rainwater to filter back into the local water table.
Material trends: There’s an increasingly strong preference for natural, authentic materials like stacked stone, warm-toned pavers, and reclaimed wood. Simultaneously, high-performance modular paver systems—especially porcelain—are rapidly replacing traditional poured concrete due to their longevity, ease of repair, and structural integrity.
Project spotlight: A wall project evolution
Jason says much of the soil in this part of southern Oregon is what they call black sticky. “It's highly expansive clay, and you can't build on that. So we had to take all of that clay out of all the structural areas. We did a lot of excavation.”They excavated down to the tan sandstone material (pictured) which is suitable for building.
