Page 7 - Outdoor Living October 2025

LIFESTYLE

Multi-Use Design By layering these zones together, families create gardens that feel like small
The most successful backyards aren’t villages — places where each person finds a corner to belong, yet no one is
designed for one person — they’re left behind. The spaces overlap, ensuring that while lives diverge, they always
layered for everyone. A good garden converge again under open skies.
doesn’t privilege one stage of life; it
shifts like a theatre, offering different Spaces That Grow With You
corners of play, rest, and connection A good backyard doesn’t freeze time; it evolves with it.
depending on who steps into it.
• Children: For little ones, the simplest That sandpit where toddlers once built castles? In a few years, it becomes a
features become magical. A raised herb bed. The trampoline turns into a basketball hoop. The pergola that
sandpit transforms into a castle, once shaded toddlers at play now becomes a pergola strung with fairy lights for
a racetrack, or an excavation teenagers, and later, a quiet corner for morning coffee.
site. A patch of grass becomes
a soccer field or the base of a This adaptability is key — because when spaces shift, they preserve memory
game of tag. Climbing frames, rather than erasing it. The lawn your children once ran across with wet hair after
tree swings, and mud kitchens are a swim may one day host their friends, and years later, your grandchildren. In
less about equipment and more this way, the garden becomes a living archive of family life.
about the freedom to imagine.
Child psychologists often say
that unstructured outdoor play is
where resilience, problem-solving,
and creativity are born — and the
backyard is the safest, most natural
classroom for it.
• Teenagers: As children grow, their
need for independence grows
too — but so does their need for
belonging. Backyards can hold
both. A shaded pergola with
beanbags, a hammock strung
between trees, or even a small
basketball hoop gives teens a place
to claim as their own. Sports courts
invite energy and friendship, while
quieter hangout zones allow them
to gather without feeling watched.
The real magic is that they’re close
enough to home to be safe, yet free
enough to feel trusted.
• Adults: For parents and
grandparents, the backyard
becomes equal parts sanctuary
and stage. A pool to cool off after
work, a deck to read in the late
afternoon sun, a braai area where
friends spill over into the evening
— these aren’t just luxuries, they’re
daily retreats. Adults need spaces
that can pivot easily: a quiet corner
for solitude one evening, and the
same corner transformed into an
entertainment hub the next.

OUTDOOR Living | 5