By the time I’d completed my landscape architecture degree in 1990 I was settled in Brisbane with my family on a small inner city block. Our home was a Queensland cottage with a classic “Hill’s Hoist Garden” – a clothesline in the middle of the lawn, a low chainlink fence to neighbours, a tall stately Silky Oak and that was about it.
I so valued my own childhood experiences of natural play that I wanted this for my two children as well, inspite of the limitations of space. So my challenge was how to turn our tiny backyard into spaces that offered variety and interest, keeping the kids happy outdoors, using resources that we could afford, beg or borrow.
Natural Play Design
My first decision was to locate a nature playspace immediately at the back of the house where they could be easily watched. We knew this area would eventually get built on with an extension, by which time the kids would have grown into other interests. It was also to the south of the house and in shade for much of the year – an essential requirement in the sub-tropics!
Our old timber posts salvaged after re-stumping, were sawn up at varying heights and used for robust edging around organic pits containing mud, sand or pebbles. We incorporated water in a big old metal bakers bowl, and added a linking bridge between spaces. You really can’t go wrong with sand, rock, soil and water – in any configuration – to encourage nature play!
Around this we planted fast growing hardy native shrubs to provide a sense of enclosure and character. As children are so much smaller, it doesn’t take much to create a “jungle” for them to play in. The plants also provided more raw material for play (leaves, twigs, seed pods, flowers etc).
My children spent many happy hours mucking around in their natural playspace. From the get-go, it was designed as a sacrificial landscape and it was so worth it! I also learnt a lot about designing nature playscapes from the process.
Every garden, however small, has potential for nature play.
Your own WildChild Garden?
Every garden, however small, has potential for nature play. It doesn’t need to be expensive or a big production with a landscape contractor either. I have developed a workshop called WildChild Gardens – Design for Backyard Nature Play to help parents of young children to create a playful wonderland on their own doorstep. Once the planning and designing is done, the fun starts with getting stuck in and making your site specific natural playspace – with the kids help of course!
If this sounds like something you are interested in, feel free to join my facebook group WildChild Gardens with Tamsin Scott: https://www.facebook.com/groups/natureplaygardens.
Will you rise to the challenge of creating backyard nature play?
