Designing a Garden That Grows With Your Family
As your family grows and changes, so will your garden. Katie looks at how she designs flexible and adaptable gardens that work for the both parents and children as they grow.
It can be tricky to design a space that works for both children and parents. Children need space to play and explore and parents often need somewhere to relax! In addition, the way the family interacts with the garden will evolve as the children grow, which means you need to think ahead too. But with careful planning and consideration, a garden fit for the whole family can be achieved. Below are some thoughts on how I go about designing flexible and adaptable gardens that work for families as they grow.
Garden Rooms
- When planning a multi-functional space, creating areas or ‘rooms’ for specific use can help make the most of the space available and enable it to adapt over time.
- You could start with a specified play area close to the house so children can be seen easily and then designate a separate area, often in the sunny spot within the garden, for dining and family gatherings.
- Individual areas can be altered, if necessary, without having to redesign the whole garden.
Space for Play Equipment
- When considering play equipment such as trampolines and climbing frames, bear in mind the space required for them to be used safely. They will need a fair bit of space and will be a prominent feature within the garden, so positioning them appropriately is key.
- Screening with plants or positioning them to one side of the garden can help redirect the eye without compromising safety.
- Bear in mind that children will outgrow these types of equipment surprisingly fast, so a key element of the design will be thinking ahead to how the space can be altered in the future.
- I often suggest putting down a play surface (such as bark), that can easily be removed and replaced with either hard landscaping or turf once the play area is no longer needed.
Spending Time Together
- Garden seating areas are great for getting the family together during the summer months, so it’s well worth getting the design right so the space works perfectly for your family.
- I will often ask how many people on a regular basis will be seated for dining and entertaining. I will then incorporate ways in which seating can be expanded within a garden for when there’s extra guests. Built in seating is a great way to do this by making use of the space available.
- In many cases, I will suggest two seating areas within a design. There are three main reasons for this:
- One area can be used as a main patio and the other for smaller groups.
- Two areas provides enough space for people to spill onto when you have a larger than average number of guests.
- Two areas means you can make the most of your garden aspect as the sun moves round throughout the day.
Growing Your Own
- A great way to encourage children to spend more time outside is to add raised planting beds to your garden. Raised beds are a fun and easy option for getting the whole family into growing their own.
- Raised beds can be used to grow anything you want from beginner friendly fruit and vegetables to sunflowers or bulbs.
- Having a space to grow their own, will encourage children to interact with the outdoors as they learn the joy of gardening.
If you live locally and would like to discuss how your garden can be adapted to grow with your family, please get in touch. From planning a new border to a complete garden remodel, we pride ourselves on transforming ideas into beautiful reality, with minimum disruption. If you’re based in or around the Reading and Newbury area, we’d love to meet and discuss your project in detail – book your free no-obligation garden consultation today.