magical gardens

[Danae]

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[Danae]

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[sophy]

Without a doubt the most popular thing with the dc in our garden is a swinging rope hanging from the branch of a tree. It is near a low wall, so they climb on the wall and then swing across on the rope. It kept 15 children amused for most of ds's birthday party recently -- they all queued up quietly waiting for their turn to swing.

We also have a dead tree trunk which they like climbing on and jumping off. Also gives a good view of the neighbours' garden when you get to the top. Long-term I would like to get a woodcarver to transform it into a piece of sculpture.

Also hammock.

[Danae]

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[BettySpaghetti]

Make sure you have plenty of roses so the children can make that rancid smelling beautifully scented Rose Petal perfume .

We used to spend hours concocting lotions and potions.

[Bink]

Do you know, I really don't know how to head off blackfly (other than wondering whether ladybirds eat them) - but I am sure gardening websites will do ideas.

Couple more things I love, then I must stop all this & concentrate on other things ...

lilac
wisteria

Oh, magnolia too. Adore magnolia. Dh is even soppier about magnolia than I am - his parents have a colossal grandiflora up against the side wall of their house. When dd was born dh painted our downstairs loo pink to celebrate - in a shade he mixed himself to match exactly a particular magnolia petal.

[Danae]

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[Bink]

If you are going to plant a tree, a weeping one would be nice - instant fairy palace for summer

[Bink]

You can get hammocks with their own stand, which would do while your orchard is growing ...

A little slightly crumbly greenhouse, with tomatoes in growbags & a peaty smell

[Danae]

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[Bink]

Nasturtiums!

[Danae]

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[Bink]

Honeysuckle
Jasmine
Night-scented stock
Some climbing roses, & something for them to climb on (our communal garden has a little stand of apple trees planted close enough together for their boughs all to mix, with roses trained up the trunks which then peep out here and there in the treetops. It's very sweet)
A swingseat, big enough for two but only one (& her book, & her mint julep) allowed
A hammock, close enough to the ground for a small person to fall out of without getting hurt
A sundial

Can you tell I am a fool for gardens?

[Danae]

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[Bink]

Ds (aged 8) would also say A ruined barn, to vanish & be discovered exploring in, a rather alarming amount of time later. Ds's mum would not recommend this, but she would highly highly recommend the thickets of blackberries that surround said barn. Those are for your extra-wild habitat bits.

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Oh yes, and speaking as a 6 inch high person, make sure your garden is somewhere good for Borrowers/Playmobil people etc to live. They tend to like tiny little flowers like forget-me-nots, and also rocks or broken brick walls they can climb.

[Danae]

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[Danae]

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[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Am really enjoying this thread, it's so evocative, esp Bink on the smell of box leaves in hot sun!

[Bink]

Oh! - nesting boxes, how could I have forgotten. There are special insect ones, too: masses of mini bamboo tubes.

[Danae]

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[PrettyCandles]

the only ones I can remeber are a type of geranium that mum grows in the gap between the lawn and the path, and allysium which scrambles all over the place. Hang on, it's coming back! Also Love-in-a-mist and forget-me-not. Basically anything that thrives on being deadheaded and isn't too wooody. Woody plants, like roses, depsite thriving on being deadheded are, more likely to be damaged by children picking flowers and breaking stems.

Despite having a greenfingered mum, I don't actually know much about gardening - I wasn't that interested in the activity, only in the results! So I'm also learning as I go along.

[Bink]

More -

Not gardening, but garden feature - a wendy house, a nice watertight wooden one with a verandah bit. And an ordinary climbing frame for hanging upside down on when you've had enough of nature for a bit.

Yew trees, for their weirdy evocative spooky dusty smell.

Box hedges, for their strange subtle smell in hot sun. Lavender, I suppose, for going inside the box hedged bits. (For bees, as well - so other things that attract bees, too.)

Gravel, for that lazy opulent sound of someone else raking it in the early morning.

[Danae]

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[BettySpaghetti]

aah, yes, good point Bink about keeping a wild bit that attracts creatures.

A wood pile for woodlice, plants that attract butterflies and ladybirds etc. We used to love finding them.

We've got a "nature area" (well thats what we call it ) in our garden at the moment.

[Bink]

Depending on what you have & time available, the list below isn't necessarily realistic, but you did ask -

• trees to climb & make houses in
• apple trees, pear trees if possible
• extra wild bits for birds & little animals
• lots of wild strawberry plants for foraging in summer
• bulbs in the grass around trees so that in early spring you suddenly get a totally different garden
• a proper tended kitchen garden, where things can really be harvested
• deeply scented roses