‘In The Garden’ — Outdoor Living Spaces
By AMY MUNCY
Master Gardener Intern
When I drive around our wonderful county and notice newly constructed homes, many of them have what amounts to a blank slate behind them: a grassed rectangle. This gives you an opportunity to create a great outdoor living space.
It is my hope this info gives someone inspiration to enjoy the great outdoors. Smell the roses! And read the following planning guide to see if you could use any of the ideas.
Take your time and try not to leap to any decisions too quickly. And as always, get some of your inspiration looking at other gardens, either physically or on the internet.
- What do you want or need from your outdoor space? A children’s play area, a place to entertain and relax, some produce and flowers or a combination of these?
- How much of the space is sheltered or open? What exposure does it have? Is the space shady or sunny, and for how long each day? What type of soil do you have? Test it if you are not sure. Test kits are available at the county extension office.
- Are there any features of the space you would keep/change? Make a list of new features you would add such as a pergola, shed, pond or playground.
- Make a measurement of your area and roughly scale it out on paper or the computer, including major existing plants and structures. Try to incorporate the features and plants you want to keep.
- If you have limited time for maintenance, choose plants that need little attention.
- After you have done all the planning, consider whether you need or want a garden designer. By this point, you should be comfortable continuing without one.
Many things can be used as double duty. For example, if you would like to have your children interact in the outdoor space, make a sand box for them. After the kids outgrow it, you can transform the sand box into a pond or seating area with a covered burn ring. A small garden the kids can plant, help raise and harvest is another idea. Later, it can be integrated with surrounding gardens.
Separate the play area from the rest of the outdoor space by growing a wall of tall plants such as bamboo. Make a path to the play area with stepping stones placed in a hopscotch pattern. These stones can be dug up later and made into a patio or used elsewhere.
A NOTE: Always be safe with children. Check all plants you have or are adding to determine that they are tough, nonpoisonous and have no thorns. If you have an area you want left as lawn to play catch with the kids, make sure it is tough and hard wearing.
There are many types of outdoor living spaces to consider. If you want to entertain, plan it so there is good flow. But remember to keep some places cozy.
Spaces you want for wildlife, plan on a little more maintenance. A pond is usually very important to entice the wildlife.
For a cottage garden space think curving, irregular lines, rustic arches and scented and traditional plants. Again, much more maintenance.
A productive garden space can be small and support an attractive array of herbs, veggies, fruits and fruit trees. Or, fence with low fencing and have no yard, just produce.
I will be touching on each of the above types of spaces in more detail next article. Anyone with questions can email me at [email protected].
Amy Muncy was born in Wabash County and lived there for close to 40 years. Muncy grew up in the country, has always enjoyed gardening and mowing the lawn. She has been gardening since a small girl. She moved to Kosciusko County in 2000. She is a master gardener intern at this point, but will be a full master gardener before long.
“I enjoy all aspects of gardening. I really don’t have an expertise on any one thing. I make compost. I can, freeze and dehydrate. I like to grow veggies, flowers, herbs and houseplants. I like to plant trees everywhere I can. I know a little bit about a lot of gardening. I would say most of my experience has been on composting and different ways to do it. I believe we must conserve our land for our future generations and composting is a great way of doing this. The more we become self sufficient, the better off future generations are and we need to be teaching them by example.”