Child's Play

- Matt Leacy

There’s no doubt the backyard gets a lot more use during the warmer months. You can create a safe and engaging outdoor space that not only looks great, but that kids can enjoy throughout the holidays and beyond.

You don’t need to compromise your outdoor aesthetic to ensure a safe and fun backyard; with smart and strategic landscape design you can achieve both — and it doesn’t have to cost you an arm and a leg.

SOFTEN SURFACES

If you have kids running around frequently, it’s worth looking at how you can soften surfaces to decrease the chance and severity of damage that can come with falls, accidents and the like. Cut back trees and plants with sharp branches and consider introducing some soft plantings, hedges and groundcovers to act as barriers around potentially dangerous garden beds and hardscapes.

In terms of plantings that look great and work to soften the environment, the best choice depends partly on your particular outdoor space and aesthetic. Woolly bush (Adenanthos sericeus) is the softest, most beautiful plant to touch. Kids love it because it looks a little pine-like and spikey, but when you touch it it is soft and silky.

For groundcovers I recommend dymondia, zoysia and dichondra as these can be walked over without being destroyed. They are also relatively hardy and able to contend with cooler weather conditions.

Synthetic grasses are another good option for softening hard ground surfaces. They’re not quite as soft and nice as the real thing, but they’re a fantastic substitute for south-facing play areas where grass won’t grow. They can be laid directly over concrete to help soften and green up an area. If you have lots of slippery surfaces in areas like patios, walkways and swimming pool decks, you might consider adding some non-skid, nonslip surfaces such as pavers or rubber flooring to reduce the risk of falls.