Ideas For An Awesome Family Garden
There are so many reasons why families should spend a little time and effort making their garden an awesome place to hang out. For example, you may be concerned that your children are spending too much time in front of the computer, TV or mobile screen. Or, perhaps you may have a big outdoor area and want to make good use of this space. Whatever your reason happens to be for giving your garden a family friendly face-lift, here are some ideas that will surely help you out.
Build a tree house
Everyone loves the idea of a tree house, even grown ups. It’s such a fun and imaginative place where you and your family can be at one with nature. If you are not experienced in DIY on this scale, it’s a good idea to ask a professional builder for advice before going ahead. It’s important that you can ensure it is structurally sound. You’ll first need to allocate an appropriate tree, design your house, source the materials and then begin to build. There are many examples of inventive, magical treehouses out there. Have a look online for inspiration.
However, if you don’t have the space or skills to build a treehouse, a little garden hut can be just as enjoyable. Garden sheds can be purchased already made or in packs that are easy to assemble. They come in a number of different styles, from conventional huts to unconventional teepees. To add a magical touch to your hut, plant some climbing plants that will eventually cloak the structure turning it into a secret hideaway.
Fill your tree house or garden hideaway with books, magazines, arts and crafts so that it becomes another place to have fun or relax as a family.
Create a vegetable and fruit patch
If you have space for a vegetable and/or fruit patch, having one can provide entertainment for the whole family. Your kids will enjoy taking ownership of a section of the patch and having responsibility for planting and caring for a particular plant. It will also be very satisfying for the whole family to watch their produce grow and to pick it when it is ripe. Vegetable and fruit gardens are easy to set up. They create color and excitement in your garden, and they provide your family with home grown, pesticide-free ingredients to eat.
Create a pet zone
Don’t exclude your pets from your garden; they are part of the family after all. Allocate an area of the garden especially for them. If you have dog, provide him or her with a patch or box of sand or soil that they can dig away into their hearts content. Outdoor doggy toys like balls and sticks will provide hours of entertainment for you and your furry friend.
If you have a cat, an outdoor climbing frame could be a popular addition to your garden. You can buy purpose built wooden frames that come complete with scratching posts, ladders and cubby holes for hiding. Alternatively, just pare back the trees and allow your feline to use nature to satisfy their instincts. Cats also love to bask in the sunshine. So, plenty of comfortable areas set up in warm, sunny locations will be perfect.
Be aware that if your pets are spending lots of time outdoors you will need to take measures to protect against, and deal with, common health issues. These include pet fleas, ticks and worms.
If you don’t have a pet, but are considering getting one, rabbits and guinea pigs make lovely outdoor pets.
Install a pond
A pond is an amazing feature for your garden. Not only will it look beautiful, but it will also attract a wealth of local wildlife making your garden a more exciting place for your family to be. You may not be aware, but it’s actually very easy to install a pond in your garden. All you need is a few materials and the motivation.
Once your pond is installed, you can make it look extra special by decorating it with pond plants like water lilies. Garden ornaments like potted plants and pebbles, as well as outdoor lanterns, will also work well to dress up your new water feature. If it is a safe environment, you may consider adding fish or tadpoles to the pond.
Allocate a dining area
Adding some outdoor dining furniture to your garden will allow you and your family to enjoy plenty of al fresco meals when the weather is at its best. It will also provide a great entertainment area whenever you have guests.
Outdoor furniture comes in a variety of styles; it’s about picking a set that is practical, but that also looks great. Wicker furniture with cushion is a trendy choice, but do be aware that you will need to remove the cushions in bad weather or purchase an umbrella or gazebo to keep them dry. If you have enough space, a barbeque is also a useful and fun addition to your garden.
Add a touch of elegance to your alfresco dining area with outdoor lighting, fairy lights or candles.
Add some color
You can make a vast improvement to your garden by adding bold splashes of color throughout. This can be done easily with the use of bright and interesting flowers. Look out for fuchsia pink roses, bright yellow sunflowers and purple lavender next time you are at your local garden centre. Use techniques borrowed from the professional to master the art of using color in the garden.
You can also brighten up your garden by painting outdoor walls and adding brightly colored furniture, flower pots and ornaments.
From building tree houses to creating an alfresco dining area, there are many improvements you can make to your garden to transform it into a family-friendly space. It may require a little time and effort from the whole family, but it will be worth it. With spring on its way, get your landscape gardening hat on and start planning now!
Great Article, Thanks!
I want to do something to my backyard this year. These are great ideas. I know the yard needs some color but I will have to check out some way to build a low cost pond and maybe a tree house for my grandsons.
This has a lot of good ideas; I especially like the suggestion about the pet zone!
Great ideas. We’re seriously thinking about adding a water feature of some sort this year.
These are great ideas, I would love to have a pond.
Love this article! Great ideas! Thanks! 🙂
great ideas–there is a few of us that need ideas–no green thumb–thanks
We live in an apartment so we can’t do all of these ideas but I am really looking forward to doing a garden with my toddler this year!
Gardening is a great way to get kids & adults outside and reaping the benefits.
slehan at juno dot com
Love the gardening ideas!
This year my garden is so dry (Summer in New zealand and we are having a dry one) that I have lost quite a few of my beloved plants. (Water restrictions too) so have lost a lot of colour and resorted to a fernery, cactii and succulents so painting to add colour sounds a brilliant idea and perhaps a garden feature or three or more is needed
My MIL has a koi pond. We enjoy sitting in the yard and watching the fish swim around. Surprisingly very calming.
Great gardening ideas!!
Beautiful gardens. I need help for a shady garden.
These are some great ideas. I especially like the pet place idea.
I like the Ideas For An Awesome Family Garden, it will be a few months before I can try though.
I like when spring comes because we can get outdoors and start planning to spruce up. Thank you for the ideas.
Thanks for all of the excellent ideas for fixing your yard to have a vegetable garden, a pet area or a koi pond. Your article went into everything I had ever thought about doing and then some. Thanks for sharing!
These are some really great ideas, I would love to have a garden in my yard I buy a lot of produce it would be great to just pick it right from my yard. I also like the idea of the pet zone, That is the only reason I do not have a garden now and I think If I could talk more with my husband we could come up with a great garden thanks to your ideas!
I have these to look forward to for my future family
These are great ideas. I love the pond.
Great ideas(: I would love to make a pet zone for my backyard!
Thanks so much for sharing all these great ideas
I just fell in love with the tree house and the swing. Gorgeous.
I have plans to do a lot of these in our backyard. This summer we will work on clearing out rocks and making a garden patch.
I will be using a few of these pointers in my gardening this year.
We’ve started planning our family garden this year and will be incorporating some of your ideas! Thanks!
these are some great and creative ideas 🙂 especially the one of creating a vegetable and fruit patch !!! people need organic food to stay healthy.
Garden areas can be so peaceful and beautiful. I know my grandkids would love the tree house idea. Thank you so much for sharing these tips with us
Tree house is a great idea !
Don’t forget just adding some pots around the house can make a big difference! You can also grow herbs and small vegetables in the pots, too!
I love gardening and hope to be able to do some more then last year we were in the middle of moving and now just to figure out how to keep the deer out and I’ll be good to go
This post has given me a little boost on this snowy day! I have a nice garden/patio area, but have never give thought to incorporating a cat climbing/basking spot. That is now on my bucket list! We have incorporated container growing for some vegetables, and intersperse various herbs in the flower bed. You don’t have to have the “perfect” garden, just one you enjoy.
these are great ideas!
I LOVE the first pic. Who wouldn’t want an amazing garden with lily pads? All you need to complte the look is SWANS!!!
i love gardening and these ideas are simply awesome and fantastic to apply. i always had difficulty with allocating my dinning area and now after reading these tips i feel my problem has been solved.
I love the Tree House looks so Awesome. Like you said you Need to have a Tree! That leaves that out for us! We do have a Deck and Garden and Flowers. I would just love to have a Gazebo. I would love to go in it to read drink my coffee and just watch the Birds..Sounds very relaxing to me..
my daughter and I love gardening together. We have a limited area in which to garden so we utilize container gardening. Its a great way to spend time together and enjoy the summer sun!
I love the look of this pond. I moved into my house 24 years ago and it has a pond. The house was built in ’62, so the pond is a cement rectangle.. I love how natural this pond looks and have been wanting to change mine.
That tree house is so cool! Wouldn’t that be fun, up in the treehouse, overlooking that beautiful pond? I love your ideas, now to solicit some help!
A lot of lovely ideas, thank you for sharing!
Wonderful ideas! We have a family garden that the teen begrudginly helps with each spring! LOL. Wish we had a tree for a tree house…how cool would that be?!
I’d love a love tree house with a tree swing. The picture of the pond looks so beautiful and serene, I’d love to have a dining area around that.
That pond is beautiful. I would to have the space to do something like that. I do, however, make use of the little space I have with plenty of vegetables and flowers to help the bee population. These are great ideas.
I wish I was a little more of a green thumb. I would like to have a garden. Nice pond and tree house pictured above. Would like one of those too.
Thank you for this post. Such great ideas and I really love the pond!
Thanks for this! Hoping to start a darden this year. And want to build a tree house for my kids (and me!)
I like the dining room area outside. We are planning on putting a fire pit outside and want to make it as cozy as possible so a table to eat on would be cool too!
Diana C
I would love to have a family tree house, I think this is something we should look into this summer. It would be a lot of fun planning and building it.