Do your kids love tiny garden?

[hyperspacebug]

We are eyeing a house that is near several good schools. Great potential for renovation.

Except - the garden is tiny. Around 26ft in length. Other houses in the area within the school catchment are pretty much similar unless we fork out extra £100K for a bigger terraced house in more expensive streets with 40-50ft gardens :(

We have two boys. Still enough space for trampoline and messy play.

Ok? Or did you inevitably end up resenting having garden so small?

No. Small garden is one of the reasons we want to move house now. Fed up of yelling at children to try and stop them kicking balls too hard, too near fences, over fences etc,

(Boys 5 and 7)

I bought a house with a big garden as I had a dream of them running in and out of the bushes.

They never flipping go in it! (But we are in a quite area, so they can play in the front safely)

And I can't keep up with the fight against weeds in the summer.

So many stunning houses we've dismissed as soon as we realised they had tiny gardens. Important for us (two boys). Room to run/scream/play/kick balls etc is important for us.

We've parks of course but that's not vaguely the same at an age when you accompany them to a park but let them plan alone in your own garden.

We have no garden at all. I would love a little garden

We too have a big garden rarely explored.
So much potential but hard to get my 5&8 yr olds to realise it.

Haha, maybe it depends on the age then - under-5s probably love garden more than older kids?

I never ever lived in a house with a garden before all my life so I'm harnessing your opinions here!

Is garden a good babysitter, etc? - you know!)))

Just had a look at this blog - I love what they made of the small garden.
nurturestore.co.uk/small-family-gardens - except - how did they end up not yelling at kids all time not to trample over the vegs?

I like our small garden. It's big enough for barbecues, some weedsflowers, paddling pool and a wendy house and small enough to cope quite well with our neglect. We can blitz the weeds and accumulated rubbish quite quickly. The kids like it well enough (we have teens and a 3 year old). I think there's only a window of about 6 years max when some kids may really love a big garden. Before about 4/5 they are little enough to be satisfied with a smaller space and by 10/11 they will be off out to the park with their friends. In a safe area they may be playing out or have the freedom to roam about a bit even earlier. Is there a park nearby?

We have a tiny garden, just about enough for a garden table, several plants and to put a small trampoline in, which we cannot do because it is mostly paved in patio tiles. To be honest my two boys (5 and 2) rarely go there and we rather go to local parks. Also it is just about good size for a simple upkeep, rather than spending too much of time weeding. So yes for a small garden with boys but I would love to have a patch of lawn in there.

AcrylicPlexiglass - how big in length is your garden? Yes, it does sound like it depends on age.

I reckon ours is about 24 ft or so.

Getting cold feet about the house. It's not just the tiny garden but that the house itself will need big amount of renovation work. And garden being tiny seems to be worse than having no garden - because it might be constant reminder of going against territorial instincts :) Wonder if it makes sense at all? :)

I agree with other experiences. We moved here from a house with about a 20ft garden. I loved that garden. I could keep it neat and pretty and even grow a few veg. The boys had a sandpit and we played ball when they were little. I longed for a bigger garden, so I could do more of the garden stuff and so the boys would have more space to play as they grew.

The reality (60ft garden) is that when they were young (under 8) they would never go out unless an adult was with them, it seemed scary for them to be so far away from the kitchen iyswim and now they're older, the garden is still not big enough for ball games. I've just got the gardening thing under control (taken 8 years!) but it's like having another load of housework to do, rather than fun like the little one used to be.

In our case, the Dcs started playing out in the garden much more once they started school than when they were toddlers/Pre-schoolers. They run around and play football at school then want to do the same at home. And they like to run around and burn off energy when they get back after being cooped up indoors all afternoon, particularly once they start doing more formal learning. My 7yo plays outside much more than the 5yo.

It's not the size thats important but what you do with it. We have a tiny garden but it's very interesting for my kids with various play/sitting areas and trees to climb.

Our house has a small-ish garden, but it's great. There is plenty of room for the kids to play and the gardening is manageable. The kids love it. DS2 (3) is obsessed with his garden.

Previously we've lived in a house with a huge garden, but it was just too big. Masses of work and the kids were no more likely to play in it than they are in our current garden. I wouldn't want a big garden ever agin.

Thank you, many of you made me feel better about small but south-facing garden. Yes, I definitely want garden just for kids - messy paint, sandbox, maybe some tiny patch to grow some novelty vegs. I never grew up with garden, so I had no idea how much maintenance big gardens needed.

That little family garden is so beautiful but I fear only achieved by having well behaved girls who will sit and do painting whilst you get to garden. Our 2 DS's are definitely of the trampling/ footballing/ plant pulling variety which only leaves me time for yelling.

I used to have a teeny garden. Now got 300feet of the stuff. I love, love, love it. Not liking the maintainance/housework element so much but we have only been in the house a short time so at the moment it is just some strimming and mowing. The children are now using the garden (DD7y DS5y) far more once we rearranged it a bit - I put all their toys (slide, see-saw, wendy house, trampoline_ in a more shaded and secret part of the garden half way down - so it is more shaded and more interesting.

They have a big lawn to play ball games on, bikes etc. It is working far better. Before when all the toys were closer to the house they did not use it nearly as much.

So I think a lot can depend on how it is laid out, as much as the size. I do think the size we have is wonderful though. Yes it will be more work, but the magic is fab.

Oh and the bigger garden also had come with eye-watering bigger costs....fencing needed replacing...gulp....you do not want to know!!!

Hi. We have a garden which is about 26 ft. If it was only lawn, it would be big enough - but the borders and path make it too small to have any swings, climbing frames, trampolines etc. It is a secure garden though with access from the kitchen - and this is the best thing about it. You can get on with doing things in the kitchen and keep an eye on the kids. Also, it only needs 1 hour/week work on it to keep it looking good.

My dcs often complain that so and so has a bigger garden, a trampoline, a tree house even! But I just remind them how lucky they are to have a garden at all! (and a good park nearby).

I think the best thing to do would be to make a list of all the things that are important to you when looking for a house, and see where the garden comes on the list. Happy house hunting

I have a small garden and have block paved it all so there is no weeding/mowing required. Kids love it as they can ride bikes & scooters around in all weathers (in previous gardens the grass was just muddy in the winter and overgrown in the summer or full of cat poo )

Agree that its not the size it what you do with it.