How important is having a decent garden?

[LeafyYork]

Hello,

We're a newly married couple looking to upsize and move area to start a family (we're not parents yet). Our house is on the market and we're viewing houses to buy.

We've completely fallen in love with a house that is perfect in lots of ways, but it only has a small courtyard garden, no lawn. It is, however, a 20 second walk from a beautiful 30 acre park which has lots of biodiversity and lovely walks.

So my question to you as parents is, how important is it to have a large, green garden rather than a courtyard? The courtyard is big enough for an outdoor table and some shrubs in pots. Children could play out there, but not really run around.

I'd hope the large park nearby would encourage us to get outdoors and see more nature than we would in a garden, but maybe I'm being naive.

I'd always pictured my children running around in the garden on a sunny evening and having a swing set. Any thoughts?

Is it south facing? Or north? If it’s north facing given it’s such a small space I couldn’t make it work.

Very important to us as DCloved playing outside every day and we could get on with jobs in the house knowing they were safe. They could grow things and we didn’t have to worry about other people or dogs, rubbish etc. They loved climbing, swinging, dens, made up games, ball games, etc. We loved learning about gardening, growing fruit and veg and having flowers for the house. Great for mental health to have a quiet beautiful space to enjoy.

Going to playgrounds and parks just needs more time, preparation and presence. Athome they can just go on a trampoline for 15 mins before supper for example.

Very important to our family. We've had big and small gardens and our children love being outdoors but when we had the smaller garden (bigger than a courtyard but still small) they just didn't use it or seek to be outside to the same extent that they do with our bigger space -also think how connected the house is to the garden is important.

We've got the same swing set and trampoline as our previous house but having room to actually run around is what makes the difference and even I'm January they are out there on sunny days. They often go straight in the garden after school, even if we've only got ten mins. And I often sit out and enjoy the greenery at weekend or on on my lunch break and it make me smile every day looking onto it. We are big outdoors people and already spend lots of time walking or being in nature at weekends, but love complementing that with our own private outdoor space.

I'm aware it's a massive privilege and many people raise children just fine without any outdoor space, but I was willing to compromise on other things to get a decent garden, so if you am afford more outdoor space I'd personally keep looking.

Really important to us. We spent so much time in our garden with the dcs or just ushered them out to play.
Sometimes I didn't have the energy to take them out but they still needed a runaround. Lots of ball games.
We have bbqs and seating areas plus trees and plants with bird feeders.
We stay out at night star gazing and waiting for our hedgehog.
Just love it.
We have friends who never even go into their gardens so each to their own.
Whatever suits you and your family.

It's the most important thing for me. When I bought this house/browse Rightmove, I always scroll to the garden pics first. Often house layouts can be changed etc, but a garden that's too small (for us) or doesn't get enough light, can't. Being overlooked is also a deal breaker, which I hadn't realised until I bought this house, which isn't.

I have 2 boys, 9 and 7, who spend so much of their time out there, bar the coldest couple of months. We recently got a dog, so the boys have actually used the garden all winter too (she's huge and too big for them to handle on walks outside the house).

I do get your predicament though. I had to discount so many perfect houses due to inadequate gardens. I even compromised on location for this particular garden, which is a total no-no on Mumsnet! It was totally the right decision for us though.

For me, important, I want somewhere I can sit out, have friends over, (and not feel hemmed in) let kids out to play and they are safe. So as much as a park close by is lovely, it really isn’t comparable to having your own back garden.

Does it have enough room to store bikes/whatever other stuff you need?

This is actually a great point.

We aren't really garden people - most weekend days we are out and about anyway - but one of the best things about having one is the garden storage. In our previous smaller place, things like the kids scooters and bikes were a real pain to store.

Agree, I have this set up but also our house is down a private drive and off the street and the back courtyard isn’t overlooked at all as it’s surrounded by other peoples long gardens.

never been an issue.

Definitely important to me. I have a toddler and she loves the garden, even this time of year she begs to go out there and play. She has a playhouse, slide etc and in the summer we have a paddling pool. I also do a lot of fruit and veg growing myself and she’s keen to help me this year which I’m really looking forward to. I actually think gardening is really good for the soul!

I think this time of year it’s easy to think meh, we can live without it but then roll on May when it’s a lovely sunny evening but you still need to cook dinner etc so can’t go out, you’ll be glad you’ve got one!

For me the garden is more important than the house in many ways . I absolutely would not buy any house with a courtyard garden . The only time I'd buy a courtyard is with a garden flat as a busy career person who wants a place for a glass of wine and no maintenance.

We upsized to a bigger house with only a small paved garden. It’s in a lovely area near great schools and walking distance to the beach - I don’t regret it for a minute! I don’t miss all the hours mowing lawns and weeding! And the kids can run off their energy at the beach instead! There’s no way we could have afforded this house in this area if it had a bigger garden, so I’m grateful we found it.

Not at all important! It’s what we sacrificed to live centrally. We have a courtyard garden which has room for pots, a mud kitchen and mini trampoline for the kids, a barbecue and seating for 4. The kids love drawing on the patio with chalk, we can still put a small paddling pool out on hot days. It’s not overlooked as we don’t have houses behind us. And we also have a balcony at the top of the house to catch the last of the evening sun whilst they’re in bed on summer evenings. And we’re walking distance from what I’d consider to be the best park/kids playground in London. I wouldn’t change a thing!!

We have a large garden. It's a millstone around my neck.

If I chucked them out in it they generally just looked puzzled at me as to what they should be doing. The idea kids will naturally occupy themselves in such a space is not universally true. Swing sets don't last long (and left nasty concrete lumps) and mine had no interest in the Wendy House. DD needed way more stimulation than my garden provided to wear here out (adhd)

We did however love hugely walking in big natural spaces and visited lots of playparks.

Your set up sounds perfect

Love our garden for spring and summer we tend to stay in rather than go out on weekends and host a couple other families. Don't have anything crazy, a trampoline, small slide and a water / sand pit. But you could add a couple of those things in your yard by the sounds of it . Chalking on the floor is so cheap and mine love that too

Depends really. Does a big garden mean a worse area, or polishing yourselves financially?
I've had a vv large garden, a medium and a yard. All with kids. All with pets. I love gardening, but it's another drain o. Your time. So, unless you really love gardening, I'd go with the yard. You just adapt. And as long as there's somewhere outside to call your own, you are lucky, in my opinion.

I’m moving from a house with decent garden to house with courtyard - but my kids are now teens and rarely go out into the garden (it’s far too uncool 😆).

I’m not a gardener so to be honest am looking forward to no longer having to pay someone to keep on top of it and we live by the sea so there’s plenty of “outdoors” to be had.

However I do think it’s great when kids are 0-about 10 to be able to have a paddling pool, trampoline etc, and to have a kitchen/diner/playroom type space that opens out into it.

Really important for a family house, no way would I have considered buying the house we bought our DS’ up in without a private, decent sized, garden. We also had a park close by, but it just isn’t the same, it’s a public space. Also when you come to resell, it’s always going to be a valid objection. I assume the house has been on the market for some time?

It is important to me too - as people say much easier to open a back door and let them out in the garden whilst you get on with stuff in the house than all go on an outing to the park.

Another thing to bear in mind is re-sell value - as you can see from this thread a courtyard garden is off-putting to the majority on here so will be the same when you come to sell.

Exactly how small is the courtyard garden? Could you turn some of it into lawn?

I’d say outside space is useful, but it doesn’t have to be massive, especially not if there is a park nearby. In fact, by the time your children want to be playing football, it’s a positive advantage not to have quite enough space for them to play at home. My pyracantha has never recovered from a particularly competitive game.

I absolutely cannot be arsed with looking after a garden (and nor do I have the time) so a courtyard-type setup works well for me - I can have a few things in pots, and there's room to sit outside and eat, or for my son to splash about with a bucket of water or whatever, but it's not a big drain on my time. For more running-about type activities we go to the park.

There was a short period the kids used it lots, I love having one, but every house will be a compromise. A trip to the park though is a whole lot more work than opening the back door. But it wouldn’t rule it out for me.

It is really great to just fling the doors open and the kids can play while you’re all still in your PJs etc. Amazing park is a bonus and you’re not in control of how long it stays amazing - dog poo, rude dogs, antisocial behaviour etc are only a council budget cut away!

Really important. We've never had a big garden, but when they were under 11 we had space for a Wendy house, small paddling pool, sandpit, swing set, and they spent hours and hours in the garden. It's totally different going to a public space, even if it's very close by. Also much nicer to entertain small friends when they came round if everyone could run around the garden.

Same for us - I don't know if we just raised them wrong but our kids don't do this playing outside by themselves while we crack on with house jobs thing at all. It sounds idyllic!

For kids having a lawn means that they can play or sit on a swing without the risk of falling onto hard surfaces like concrete or paving and you can relax more. I’ve seen the impact of head injury so this matters to me.

Other than that it’s really important for us as we love gardening and just being able to enjoy being outside at home.