Three Tips for Child-Friendly Landscape Designs
May 21, 2014
When you have a space outdoors that you want to have landscaped, you need to look through the local landscaping contractors to find one. You want the best one in the area that will do an excellent job on your yard. A beautiful yard landscaping could be just around the corner with the right landscaping company. They will know the best plants to use in your climate so that your landscaping grows well and thrives in your yard.
Many people want their yards to look like a landscape painting and use all the adjectives to describe a landscape scene. Across the landscape, the plants and other materials should look great and be inviting for spending time outdoors. Many people use their yards more when they have nice landscaping and are a pleasure to be in. Make sure you get some good ideas for your landscaping so that the design can be just what you want.
It’s helpful to look through pictures of landscaped yards to see ideas that you want. You may find some hardscapes that you want to mix into the landscaping. Work closely with the landscaping crew so that they know exactly what you want for your yard.
Landscaping when you don’t have children is sometimes an entirely different playing field from landscaping when you do have children, especially if you have kids that love to play around outside and aren’t likely to listen to admonitions of, “Don’t step in the garden!”
It’s not impossible to have kids and a beautiful landscape at the same time. If you want to impress neighbors and friends with your beautiful greenery, you don’t need to resort to leaving anyone at the orphanage this spring. How can you get the child-appropriate backyard of your dreams? Here are three tips for keeping kids in mind for your landscaping designs.
1. Get Kids Involved Directly With the Landscaping Process
If you want to teach kids to respect delicate plants that can be easily crushed by trampling feet, your best bet is to keep them involved with the process of actually situating your plants and garden components. When children feel like they’ve been a part of “raising” a young plant, they’re less likely to treat it with no more care than a blade of grass. This is also a good route to take if you’re growing vegetables, so that they end up on dinner plates rather than used as makeshift dodgeballs.
2. Keep Play Areas Safe for Children
If you are planning out a play area for kids, using playground mulch to create a softer surface for falls is a good idea. Left alone, children’s play areas, when not mulched, can often become muddy, especially after a rain. This leads to injuries through slips and falls — not to mention many dirty shirts. Colorful landscaping mulch has the added benefit of keeping moisture in the ground for your plants, and reducing the number of weeds that start growing in your garden or swing set area.
3. Aim for Landscaping That is Both Eye-Pleasing, and Play-Worthy
HGTV says that crafting a dry creekbed is a good idea for making an area that is both child-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing. Landscaping rocks can serve as pretend rivers and moats while also complementing your yard. For young children, ponds are not a good landscaping idea. Not only do they present a drowning risk, but they can also be very tempting for throwing in sticks, leaves and rocks.
Will you use playground mulch as part of your child-friendly landscaping? Let us know in the comments. Read more blogs like this.