Creating A Gorgeous Garden

Landscaping Design Tips For Parents

3 May 2022 by Tiffany Gonzales

Becoming a parent changes so many things about your life. One thing you may not expect to change is your landscaping preferences. However, parents tend to have less time to dedicate to landscaping maintenance. They also tend to worry about their children's safety around plants and other landscaping features. As such, it really is important to take your parenthood into account when designing your landscape. Here are a few landscaping design tips that will serve you well as a parent.

Choose plants that can tolerate drought.

You may have the best intentions of watering your plants on a regular basis. But if something comes up with your kids or you just get overly busy for a while, you may not water as often as you want. You should make sure the plants in your landscape are ones that can tolerate this. They may not look as nice when you come back to them, but at least they will be alive. The following lists some drought-tolerant plants to consider:

• Salvia
• Cornflowers
• Lantana
• Catmint
• Lavender

Steer clear of plants that are poisonous or irritating.

Your kids will probably spend some time out in the yard, either playing or helping you with yard work. You don't want to have to worry about keeping them away from certain plants. Some plants you don't want to include are:

• Oleander
• White Snakeroot
• Water hemlock
• Wild Parsnips

Minimize your use of concrete.

Concrete can be dangerous for young kids. They may fall on it, injuring themselves. It's much safer to have most of your yard planted with grass, which is a softer surface. If you do want to include some concrete, put it in a place where your children are less apt to be wandering around without your direct supervision.

Leave lots of empty space.

This is probably not the stage in life in which you want a yard full of various garden beds, fountains, and rock formations. A few of these things are certainly nice, but you want to make sure there's a lot of space in your design. This way, your kids will have plenty of room to run and play without you worrying about them stepping into a garden bed or banging their heads on a rock.

If you follow the tips above, you should end up with a landscape design that works well for you and your children. You can also ask your landscaping team for more advice and recommendations. 

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