Planning for play
Safety is key in creating a children's garden

by Kelly Bowman Greenwood

There are lots of ways to create places to play in any size yard. The most important things to keep in mind are safety, the ages of the children who will be playing, safety, the number of children, and safety, safety, safety.

While you're thinking about safety, you might also consider a few other elements.

Rocks, clues and prints: A few well-placed ornamental boulders can become a council ring, a circus or an enemy base. Unidentified animal prints cast in plaster or stone can be tracks or dinosaur fossils.

Enclosed rooms, such as in a play structure, can suggest stores, jails, command posts or fire towers with a few simple accessories. Hedges and trees with large skirts make great hiding places.

Roadways and racetracks: Lawns are important for older children who play sports and need practice space, but for smaller children who can't leave the yard without supervision, a circular path around the edge of the lawn to drive on is as thrilling as Indy itself. A circular path is typically pretty easy to add around the edge of an existing lawn or to contain chips under a play structure, and gives all those big wheels, trikes, trucks and scooters a place to go. (And go and go and go.)

Concrete pavers, bricks, pathway fines and wood chips are good options for border paths. Kids will happily ride trikes around on stepping stones in groundcover, if that's what's available.

Sand and water create endless opportunities for very small children to manipulate their environment and make structures of their own. Building a sand castle, channeling water and creating dams all require water close at hand. Always try to include a source of water nearby with different control options such as spray, stream or shower. The more, the better!

Self-coiling RV or marine hose from your local hardware store comes in a variety of bright colors and offers a large multi-sprayer head that's easy for small fingers to manage. The child has to hold the trigger to activate the spray, preventing big messes from leaving the water on.

Remember to keep sand areas covered when not in use, to keep out animals. It's also best to expose the sand to direct sunlight for a few hours each day to kill any germs. (It's that safety thing again.)

Kid-friendly, kid-safe plants are particularly fun for toddlers and grade-school children as they discover the natural world. However, some very common and popular plants can be quite toxic, including oleander, cotoneaster, holly, rhododendron, foxglove and ivy. "Plants for Play" by Robin C. Moore is a great guide to selecting plants with play value, and includes lists of toxic plants. Also keep in mind any allergies your children may have, or ask your allergist about plants that may be a problem in your garden.

There are many ways to enjoy plants, by feeling different textures, smelling pleasant and strongly scented plants, or playing with wacky-looking seed pods or grasses. Lamb's Ear (Stachys byzantina) is a staple for its soft texture, and the blossoms and seedpods of Sedum 'Autumn Joy' are also fun to play with. One of my personal favorites is "Kangaroo Paw" (Anigozanthos flavidus), which is excellent for tickling siblings and friends.

An outdoor structure adds instant play value, although typically best-suited for large yards. When selecting an appropriate structure for your family, think about how many children will be using it and the difference in their ages. Very small children often get run over by the rowdier play of older children.
If a number of children will be using the set, it may be a good idea to create separate play areas in different parts of the yard. If you enjoy frequent visits from the extended clan, next to the swing set may not be the best place for a toddler-appropriate sand play area. For a family of two or three children, however, especially if they're close in age, incorporating sand with a play structure can be a great way to save space and extend the life of your investment.

When selecting a manufacturer, first ask play structure distributors about the manufacturer's safety ratings. Are they using arsenic and chromium-free wood preservatives? Alternatively, consider ordering the structure in unfinished cedar or redwood and staining it with a non-toxic product such as Woodburst, which is available in a wide variety of bright colors. What about firehouse red, for example, for your little heroes, with a fire pole and a bell? Also ask about customizable configurations, which allow you to create a structure unique to your yard.

A place for you, too. Positioning play areas within view of the kitchen or family room is a good idea. For very small children, though, a place to sit close by is more important. It's also nice to make this space feel a little more adult, with a nice (adult-sized) chair or glider, so that you can relax and enjoy play time, too.

Safety, safety, safety! A play structure should have six feet of clearance from any obstructions, including buildings, trees, power lines, poles and fences. Play areas should be as far as possible from streets and driveways, preferably in a fenced rear yard. The surface around the structure should be six to 12 inches deep, depending on the height of the structure, and should be of a soft material, such as wood chips, sand, rubber tire shreds or rubber matting. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued guidelines for play surfacing used in public playgrounds, based on testing done by the American Society of Testing and Materials. These guidelines may be useful in helping you to determine the most appropriate material to use for your own play area.
Play areas and structures need to be maintained regularly. Fix or remove any loose or worn hardware, debris, litter, rocks or tree roots, splinters, large cracks, decayed wood and missing or damaged equipment. Rusting or peeling paint is also a hazard and should be repaired. Above all, never take your eyes off the little guys!

Kelly Bowman Greenwood, APLD, is a landscape designer specializing in play areas for gardens from San Francisco to Los Altos Hills. For information about Greenwood Landscape Design, visit www.kellygreenwood.com.