Gardening design ideas for kids imaginative play..?

[mylifeisgood]

I think this may be seen as a bit of an odd one and I am not sure I will get many replies, but anyway...
I am having my (small, urban) garden redesigned as part of a house renovation. The big juggling act is between my desire to have a garden to garden in, and my 4 girls (5 to 11) having a space to play in.

When I was little I loved my gran's garden, and still can remember playing in it very fondly, decades later. I want to create a bit of that, albeit on a much much smaller scale, for my dds.

So....the designer has put a bench halfway up, that I know I won't sit in as the neighbours can see, so I thought it could be a spot for the girls...does anyone have any brilliant ideas that might stimulate a child's imagination but that fit into a natural/cottage garden look? They do a lot of role play, shops/garages/schools etc
All I can think of are logs, or maybe a water feature.

I thought logs in a stepping stone circle, a small willow sculpture that they could play in, a grassy mound?

When planting it up, try to have some densely packed, interesting plants that could form a 'den' area for the girls, with very narrow grass paths between?

We have black bamboo ( which can be controlled more easily than many bamboos) and tall ornamental grasses, including miscanthus zebra grass. CAUTION: some grasses have coarse leaves that could cut. Our stipa gigantea is just about to flower for the first time, and the flowers can be 2m tall.

Or if you could have a trellis 'tunnel' you could have plants growing over it - clematis, sweet peas, even runner beans (for healthy eating!).

Lonicera nitida is a small leaved hedging plant, which will easily root from cuttings, so they could start with a few plants, and gradually extend with cuttings to make a maze or 'parterre'.

How about a living willow house. Would be very magical. My parents had some put in their large garden last year. It could work to make a shelter for imaginative play, whilst still being small enough to fit in your small urban garden. Bit bigger than a bench but not much. Would different and build great memories from childhood!

A willow teepee perhaps, we are growing sweet peas around one as a 'den'. A circle of tree stumps, a blackboard on the fence for them to draw on (hidden by your plants) perhaps

A solar powered fountain, a little pond, pots with cut and come again salad, a willow or wood or pop up gazebo so that you can sit in it even when it is raining. humphrey has a brilliant living willow igloo in her garden.

A swing.

You all get where I am coming from, thank you.

I saw this thread, children's play vs 'design' you might find it interesting
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a1769162-To-not-get-any-sort-of-large-garden-toy

A wooden den with a living grass roof?

Love this-I'm doing something similar for my dc in a area at the Side of the house about 25ft x 35 ft ish. I'm putting in an old sink in a corner for them to play with, (bucket under to collect water-Google mud kitchens) & if we have space I may get a big tractor tyre to plant in the ground for a tunnel/climbing frame. Really like the idea of a climbing plant tunnel.

Have you heard of Pinterest? It's ideal for things like this. You just put in the search bar what you are looking for and you get lots of images coming up.

Youtube search "teepee construction" and there is a great video of an aussie creating a living teepee from jasmine and sweet peas.

What about an area for them to plant things e.g. giant sunflowers or a few veggies - get them into gardening early!

Do you have space for a small shed to be a playhouse - that's what my children use the most . Also we have a pond and they love the goldfish .

The willow house mentioned upthread woudl be great if you can't do a play structure

We have stepping stones across the grass and also gravel areas so they can use the garden all year round . The grass becomes muddy if you walk on it a lot in winter

Bird feeders and nesting boxes

Tell the designer the bench is in the wrong place . Or better still get a new designer . I can't imagine why you would design a garden for A family with 4 kids without taking their needs into acount .

I have an edible teepee (last year it was an edible igloo but it needed a design change this year), we grow climbing beans, runners, peas, cucumbers, squashes & nasturtiums up it. The girls loved picking stuff off it last year, though it wasn't much played in, hence the design change this year as they now have a door they can actually get through.

We also have a fairy ring, which is basically just a circle of flowering plants in the grass, with an entrance point. Various flowers throughout the year, starting with crocus, tulips etc. then moving to poppies, cosmos and anything else you like.

I've made a willow teepee in my garden and it's great; I've put some outdoor cushions inside and the leaves are growing over it now. I'm going to put some solar lights in it too soon.

Ooh, we might need to wait for next year for a tee pee but live the idea-always thought it was something that would be hard to grow.

I've optimistically bought some cheap decking boards in B&q today & want to make a sandpit with 2 benches for a cover that are on wheels for easy to move back & forward.

I have no woodwork skills to speak of-am I mad?!

Good luck with the sandpit!

The teepee was easy to build, I bought a kit which was about £60 and did it in February as it has to be done before leaves start appearing.

Tic Tac Toe, on a tree stump
www.lovethispic.com/image/137379/tree-stump-tic-tac-toe-with-painted-rocks
blog.honest.com/diy-outdoor-tic-tac-toe/#

A fairy garden in a container, or a dedicated fairy area
www.countryliving.com/gardening/garden-ideas/how-to/a5742/fairy-garden/

Tree stumps used for climbing or stepping on
www.letthechildrenplay.net/2010/04/just-add-stones-logs-stumps-and-mounds.html