The Art of Integrating Child & Adult in Landscape Design

Altering the Design’s Purpose:
By Terry Sims, The Garden Artist, LLC

Well planned landscapes can be designed for present and future use. Areas originally designed for children can be transformed into an ultimate outdoor living area. . . .

· Outgrown sandboxes double as raised gardens.

· Playhouses can become an office, studio or storage shed.

· A sunken trampoline area becomes a step-down fire pit with seating for dining or lounging.

· Obsolete sport courts can be acid color washed or stone veneered for a second entertaining area!

Water is always a draw for children as well as adults. My water designs incorporate falling water with a beach-like entry, as well as lovely shallow pools for wading.

Creating Play out of Utility areas:

Utility paths can double as a child’s path of discovery by incorporating a few turns spiraling into a child’s maze.

Lots with 10’ setbacks are ideal for fort building. Leave one side of your setback for utility purposes and yard storage and the other side for play.

Landscape for All Generations:

For my clients that wish to separate play and adult entertainment areas I use innovative screening materials and patterns to accomplish their goal. Live evergreen screens provide year around separation. Early emerging and late defoliated deciduous plants provide three quarter annual screening.

One technique I use is the staggered overlap screen where two screens, about 5’ apart, overlap each other in the middle forming an “S” curve pathway into the area.

Strategic placed boulders appeal to the climbing abilities of children and provide a year around screen. In my practice, we use a combination of monoliths and boulders.

Berms are useful and when covered with grass and are augmented with plant materials.

Semi-evergreen Long Red Fescue is an excellent material for a berm ground cover which will create waves of deep green grass and does not need mowing.

In most cases by screening a portion of any area will subconsciously impede vision with the background appearing invisible.

Especially for the Children:

I recently designed a multi-purpose yard that sited the play set on a lower level but within eyesight of the parents. From the upper level I used a slide for the children to enter their play on the lower level. Steps were added at the side for adult access. I used Astro-turf (modern products look and feel like the real thing!) for the ground cover which eliminated gardening maintenance and the difficulty of moving equipment down the hill. To the side of the play set, I drilled ¾” wide holes into the soil for fort building dowels. This area was fantasy land for the children and with the play area sited in a lower area, semi-screened from the adult’s entertaining area.

As a mother, entertainer and designer, I believe our living environment should accommodate all ages. Landscape plans that consider present and future provide the yard with a blueprint to evolve with the family’s needs.

Terry Sims is a Landscape Designer and Horticulturist. Her company, The Garden Artist, LLC is located in Boise Idaho. For more information visit thegardenartistidaho.com.