Child’s play
Garden goodies for little green fingers
The top accolade at this year’s South African Landscapers Institute Awards went to a garden designed for children, appropriate at a time when youngsters should be encouraged to spend more time outdoors rather than playing with electronic devices inside.
While not every home garden has space for traditional playground equipment such as at the American International School in Johannesburg (above), there are other ways of encouraging kids to spend time outdoors – with both physical and mental health benefits – where they can watch birds and bees visiting flowers and learn to appreciate nature.
Set aside a part of your garden especially for your kids or grandchildren so that they can grow their own plants. Encourage them to create fairy gardens or secret hideaways, and make winding pathways through tall grasses to encourage exploring. Give them a large cardboard box as a boat or fort, or help them to build a ‘bug hotel’ for insects.