Designing a Family Garden
A garden design for a family needs to take account of the needs of all the family members to be successful. This can be quite a challenge, and needs some thought!Try and have an overall plan for the garden, including areas for children to play and adults to sit and relax. Link the areas to each other with paths and planting, so that it all fits together. Without a plan, it’s all too easy to end up with a mish-mash of spaces, which do not relate to each other.
A patio area needs to be large enough to sit and entertain family and friends. Design it around the size of your outside table and chairs, leaving enough space behind the chairs to allow someone walk around, topping up glasses! A smooth paving surface will be easier for youngsters to cycle on, and why not extend the paving into a path around the garden, to make a cycling circuit. An area of decking is another option. It is easier on young knees than paving, and a few large floor cushions are good for lounging on.
A designated play area will help to organise play equipment into one space rather than spread it all over the garden. If children are very young, position it so you can watch them from the house. If the grass gets worn away, replace it with bark or rubber chippings, or artificial grass. Older children prefer to have an area where they can hide away from adults, so divide up the garden and screen off their space with timber panels or planting.
Plants for family gardens need to be tough! They have to be able to stand up to a battering from a football and the occasional trampling of young feet. In addition, it helps if they can look after themselves, as busy parents often have little time to work in the garden. Tough plants are the ‘bread and potatoes’ of the shopping list – readily available, reasonable priced although not particularly interesting on their own. However, they look green and tidy and are low maintenance. A good selection of evergreens, like Aucuba, Choisya and Viburnum tinus, would work well as the backbone to easy borders. Add in some flowering shrubs for seasonal colour. Flowering perennials are a bit more delicate than shrubs, and footballs are better at knocking off their heads off, so maybe leave those until children are older.
Think about including an area to grow vegetables. Even if you have no plans to feed the family from the garden, growing a few easy veg crops like salads, is a great way to get kids interested in being outside and learning about where food comes from. Once they are out there, entertain them with areas designed to attract wildlife. A pile of rotting logs can be hidden away behind a shed, and will be a great home for all sorts of creepy crawlies, waiting to be discovered. It’s easy to include some plants that attract birds, bees and butterflies into the garden, again creating the opportunity to develop an interest in nature.
Make a few plans now and create a garden for the whole family to enjoy.