Creating a Kid-friendly Landscape
August 20, 2019 | By webadmin
You want to relax in a beautiful and calming garden. But your kids probably have a totally different idea about how to have fun in the yard! So how do you make everyone happy? By blending your personal style with functionality. This week we’ve put together some tips for you on how to make your yard work better for both you and your kids.
Incorporate places for discovery
When designing a space that is fun to discover, we like to incorporate winding paths and secret garden rooms. Kids will love little hidden, secluded, quiet spaces – perhaps add a birdbath or toad house and a small child-sized bench where they can enjoy a book & simply be surrounded by nature. But these “secret” spaces can also be beautiful and create dimension in your landscape design.
Something as simple as a toad house can make the garden fun for kids.
Tumbling Turf
Kids need a place to run, roll, kick a soccer ball, and play with their pets. While you might not need or want a lot of lawn, even a small play patch of lawn can get the job done. If your yard is too shady or will have lots of foot traffic, an artificial lawn might be the best bet for you and your kiddos.
Artificial lawns are soft and green all year around.
Scratch n’ Sniff
If you want to get the most ROI out of your landscape - and find ways to better engage your kids with nature and the outdoors - appeal to the senses! Plants that stimulate the senses, be it through fragrance or flavor, will elevate both your and your kids garden experience. In addition to tasty vegetables in all colors of the rainbow, plant herbs for scent, grasses with rustling seed heads for sound, and lambs ear or dusty miller for the sense of touch.
Planting vegetables & herbs will engage children in the garden.
You can take your sensory garden activities to the next level by customizing your plantings to your culinary tastes. Pizza gardens, planted with herbs and veggies perfect for pick-your-own toppings get kids pretty excited.
Of course, be sure to research any plants for possible toxicity before planting in your child-friendly garden. Many common plants have poisonous leaves, flowers, or seeds like privet, datura, and foxglove. Also, keep in mind some people can have reactions to certain saps or even the hairs on leaves.
Bounce Away the Hours
A great way to tire out your kids and provide endless hours of fun is with a trampoline. A simple decomposed granite area can be used for a level trampoline base now, and when your kids outgrow it, a perfect location for a firepit. In the meantime, we can camouflage the kid areas, such as trampolines, with strategically placed plantings.
Strategically placed plantings helped concel this trampoline.
Keep it Cool
Nothing will get a kid inside faster than a hot Texas summer. So, make sure to include shade in your design plan – whether it be from trees, a pergola, or a patio set with an umbrella. Better yet, set up a sprinkler water feature in your lawn for endless entertainment!
If you want to design your landscape with your children in mind, give us a call. We will help you get started & provide ideas to make your yard a space that will be enjoyed by the entire family.
