How To Make a Garden Child-friendly
For families with young children, a garden is a huge blessing, giving the kids somewhere to run around, burn off energy and get some fresh air away from their screens.
However, one thing a garden must be is safe. For this reason, a child-friendly garden is something a lot of people focus on when they first move into a home. This principle starts with the design of the garden itself and follows through with the features and additions you make.
To help you create a child-friendly garden for your family, we’ve got some handy tips that you can follow.
Gates
Most gardens come with gates in one form or another, but if your garden leads around to the front of the property without one, it’s a good idea to fit something to help keep your children in the back garden where you can keep an eye on them.
For existing gates, make sure the locks and latches are out of reach for tiny hands to ensure they cannot be opened by a child. If your gate is lockable, then keep it locked at all times to ensure maximum safety.
Fencing
Along with your gates, your fencing should also be an adequate height to create a perimeter around the garden that children can’t accidentally – or purposely – climb over. Any broken or missing fence panels should be dealt with immediately, since children have a great sense of curiosity and will always be on the lookout for ways to explore new places.
Plants
Most plants attract insects – something that children find endlessly fascinating – but it’s worth considering the type of plants you want. Sharp, thorny or prickly plants won’t be very nice for children, but likewise, anything too fragile or weak probably won’t last long with kids charging around. For this reason, you’ll want hardier plants for the garden, while still adding colour and excitement.
Water features
Water poses a huge risk for children of all ages, which is why we don’t recommend any large, open-water style features. Instead, opt for smaller water features that are self-contained if you really want one, preferably something where the water doesn’t pool but instead runs off underground. If you do choose to keep a pond – since they’re great for wildlife – then make sure they are adequately covered or fenced off to protect your children.
Grass
Playing out on the grass in your back garden is great fun for the kids, but whether they’re playing football or just making up games with their friends, it takes a toll on real grass. With kids around, it won’t take long for your grass to become muddy, patchy and worn, making it hard to ever keep a nice, even lawn.
With artificial grass from Easigrass, however, you can keep that luscious green lawn all year round – no muddy feet to worry about and no heavy maintenance required. Plus, you can even add a shock pad underlay to make the surface soft and safe for endless rough and tumble outdoors.
Play areas
If you have a garden large enough, we recommend creating an area that is specifically for play – including items such as a trampoline or swing set. This area should, ideally, be somewhere that gets more shade but is still within view of the house, so that you can keep an eye on the little ones just in case things get out of hand or there are accidents. This leads nicely onto our next section…
Can you put a swing set on artificial grass?
A common question people have now that artificial grass has become so popular is whether you can put a swing set on artificial grass. The answer is yes, absolutely.
If the swing set is not fixed into the ground, you may get the same shifting and sliding of the apparatus that you would on normal grass over time. Most swing sets will require you to anchor them into the ground for this reason, and while this is possible, it should be done with great care to ensure you do as little damage as possible. You will undoubtedly have to perforate the layers that have been installed, but as long as you keep this as small as possible and check the area regularly for any issues, you should be able to maintain the integrity of the lawn. Our best recommendation is to integrate such structures before the artificial grass is first laid, so that you get the benefit of expert installation with these things already taken into consideration.
If you’ve got kids and would like to reap the benefits of an artificial lawn for them to play on, look no further than Easigrass Surrey. We operate across the entire region of Surrey, including Guildford, Leatherhead and Farnham, helping homeowners make more of their gardens – we can even advise on integrating swing sets and other structures to your artificial lawn.
Contact us today for your quote or to discuss artificial grass for your garden.
