3 Ways To Make A Garden Child Friendly



Buying our first home four years ago was a very important milestone in our life. Noah was only a few months old at the time, it felt wonderful to be in the position to give him a proper family home and for it to be an investment for his future too.

As mentioned in previous posts, our house needed a full renovation before we could move into it, but we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Our main goal was to make the house a home. A space that was just ours, one which would be the perfect base to create an endless amount of family memories for years to come. 

By the time we'd accomplished our goal, Noah was a fully-fledged toddler. He was really finding his feet and loved nothing more than being outdoors. With this in mind, the next step was to create an outdoor space that was safe for him to enjoy. Here are 3 ways we created a child-friendly garden:

1. Remove all hazards
I decided to start the post with this suggestion because it was the main issue for us and our garden. When we moved in to our house, the entire front yard was filled with gravel. It didn't look nice, but I presume the previous owners decided to do it because it meant no upkeep from them. It was the first thing to go, not only was in an eyesore but it was also unsafe and the neighbourhood cats all saw it as one huge litter tray too! Gross!


2. Check plants aren't poisonous
Our garden also had numerous plants and foliage which we didn't really want to remove. The plants looked like they'd been around for some time so we didn't like the thought of removing them. They also looked nice and gave the garden a little privacy.

All parents know that toddlers like to explore using their mouths so before we agreed to do anything I did a little research on which plants are toxic and which aren't. I think this is really important to do, even if you don't have children. One of my relatives recently moved into a new house and soon after her dog started to become sick. She was taking him to the vets on a weekly basis but they eventually got to the bottom of it, he'd been eating the fallen leaves of a toxic tree. It cost my relative a couple of hundred pounds to get it removed but her dog is no longer getting sick and the hazard has been removed.

3. Create a safe surface
Kids love to explore and can become quite excited when outdoors which is why it's so important to create an even and safe surface for them to enjoy. An easy and efficient way to do this is to install Artificial Grass. At first, we opted for real grass as that tends to be the norm but we soon regretted it. We could never get it to look nice. We are outside most days so it looked patchy and when it rained it turned into a mud bath! It was a nightmare. We've turned to artificial grass as gives you the look of a real lawn without the high maintenance! The best of both worlds.

Do you have any tips you'd like to share with me?
- This is a PR Collaboration.

10 comments:

  1. This is such a useful post. My younger daughter and her husband have moved to a house with 100foot of neglected garden. They are delighted to have all that space but with a firs baby due in September will have their work cut out removing the hazards and plants which could cause problems and attempting to create a magical space for their little boy to grow up in.

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  2. Family space, and Health and Safety:- Important Issues. Thanks for the blog.

    Rachel Craig

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  3. Garden, a great space for the family in the summer.

    Rachel Craig

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  4. Some excellent tips but can we just talk about how stunning that dress is for a minute? I love it!!

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  5. Thanks for such a useful post - really important to ensure there are no toxic substances for both children and animals!

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  6. Remove all Hazards :- Important and a Priority. Garden can be outdoor space. A place to get some fresh air, exercise, and natural vitamin D. Maybe there should be a diagrammatic plan of garden :- Showing layout, giving information on plant names, history, etc. This stored with House Deeds would be useful for Home Owners / Prospective Home Purchaser / House Seller.

    Rachel Craig

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  7. Ava seems to have lovely curly hair.

    Rachel Craig

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  8. Beautiful photos.

    Rachel Craig

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  9. Great tips thanks

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