Landscaping Ideas for Family Homes
If your home is a family home, comfort and room for your kids to be active is no doubt a priority. Here are some ideas to help you plan your landscape around a family with a little extra space left over for a canine or feline companion or two.
Plenty of lawn space
Plenty of soft, well-kept lawn forms the foundation of a family home’s landscape design. Keeping plant beds and hardscaped features towards the edges of the design will help ensure a large, unbroken space where kids and pets can run, play sports and generally have some fun. To keep your lawn soft and springy, take advantage of a regular lawn care plan including fertilization, aeration and seeding. For smaller yards where grass is not an option, a patch of synthetic lawn can make all the difference for kids and pets.
Related: Make Stylish Pet-Friendly Landscaping a Priority This Summer
Trees
No family friendly backyard should be without at least one large tree for climbing, hanging a rope swing or just providing shade. Sure, you could spoil your kids with all the playground equipment they can handle, but with a solid tree no extra equipment is necessary. A rope, a tire and maybe a rope ladder is all that’s needed for creating a fun backyard. Climbing trees is great exercise for kids (as long as they’re supervised) and pets will love them too. Fruit trees are another family favorite, offering kids the opportunity to follow the journey of a fruit from seedling to table. To ensure optimal growth, strength and longevity of your trees, a regular tree service is highly recommended. Invest in our expertise to give your trees the care they deserve.
Play area
Trees take some time to grow, however, so in the meanwhile a climbing frame or monkey bars can serve as a substitute. But why stop there? For young kids, a sandbox is always a pleasure. A slide and teeter-totter make excellent additions to a kid’s play area, as does a playhouse. For the ultimate family friendly backyard, a play area is perfect and will keep the kids outdoors and active.
Outdoor living area
Of course, a family landscape is not just about having space for the kids to have fun, it’s also about creating areas that the family can enjoy together. An outdoor kitchen, dining and leisure area provides the perfect outdoor spaces for family gatherings, birthday parties and good old fashioned quality time. Whether it’s for cooking up a family lunch on a Sunday, or enjoying the warmth of a log fire with your loved ones, outdoor living areas are great for family life.
Related: Keeping Your NY Patio Cool This Summer
Water features
Waterfall features, fountains and ponds are excellent for creating a soothing ambiance for a family home. Placed near the window of your child’s bedroom, a moving water feature can have a positive impact on health, providing a peaceful sound for the child to fall asleep to and releasing negative ions into the air. These reduce the amount of pollen, dust and pollutants in the air. A koi pond is another water feature with untold benefits for kids. Feeding and caring for the fish is an educational activity, teaching them responsibility and knowledge of the koi’s lifecycle, not to mention the pond’s visual and entertainment value.