A natural waterfall.
A natural landscape is when an area of land and the elements that are in it are not directly modified, altered or moved by man. These types of items can be living or non-living and can include rocks, water, plants, or trees. Wildlife is generally not considered part of the landscape because animals have the ability to move in and out of the area on their own.
The natural landscape has not been altered by human presence.
While humans cannot change a landscape and keep it natural, nature can change it. Wind can blow down trees, fire can destroy vegetation, or floods can topple rocks and hills. All these things can change the area, but it is the human factor of participation that makes the difference. The contours of a coastline, caused by the flow of the ocean, are a good example of a natural landscape, even though the terrain is a grain of sand rather than rock and dirt. Basically, any type of topographical area that remains intact is considered natural.
Natural landscaping is the attempt to return land to its natural state after altering it for other purposes, such as construction.
However, this term should not be confused with natural landscaping. With landscaping, humans often move or rearrange the land and its features to make them more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. In many cases, it is even possible that the landscape has been almost completely altered or the ground has been leveled to accommodate the construction of a house or other type of structure.
A series of waterfalls in a forest.
Once construction is complete, there may be a desire to return the land to its original appearance before it was altered. To achieve this look, landscapers often mimic the topography of the surrounding area and may create artificial hills or slopes to give the land a natural look. They can also choose to embellish it by adding miniature waterfalls or lakes that did not originally exist.
The popularity of green landscaping, the idea of using plant species native to a given area, has helped blur the line between what is a true natural landscape and what is man-made. These native plants and trees not only help the environment by reducing pesticide use and improving air quality, they also encourage wildlife and beneficial insects to return to areas they may have left. As this trend toward green landscaping continues, there is a possibility that future human generations will not be able to distinguish between natural and manufactured landscapes.