Garden Dweller

While the term garden of the month might evoke one type of image in one person’s mind, it can create a nearly polar opposite one in another’s mind. To help clarify this, take for example the ideal garden of an average middle-aged woman, and thoughts of a trellis dripping with bougainvillea might appear. In opposition to this, consider what may make a teenager’s eyes glaze over when speaking of a brilliant garden. The latter will likely think of things like trampolines, or maybe a village of camping tents.

The point here is that though different age groups might not agree over what defines an ideal garden, they can both get a great deal of enjoyment from the space. Thus, instead of concluding that the garden is a place for adults to tend to pruning and propagating, contemplate a compromise on some level to get the younger generation of your family involved in the out of doors area of your home.

Now, if your mind just filled with visions of you attempting a backflip on a trampoline in order to spend more quality time with your teen, you might want to take it down a notch to just plain old jumping. Or, if you have started to panic over the idea of having the equivalent of an ant colony of tents filling the garden let that go completely. After all, we are looking for a meeting of the minds if you will, or a pursuit of a common interest as opposed to an establishment of a tent city within the confines of your otherwise perfectly delightful property.

So where does one find that balance of interests you might be asking. First off mull over the obvious, list the fruits and vegetables that your teenager enjoys. Maybe planting a few rows of potatoes in the veg patch to make chips would be applicable, or watermelon for those fruit smoothies your son or daughter is always whipping up in the kitchen. If this is still not setting of bells for you or them, ponder other favourites like berries for their morning cereal, or breakfast muffins.

Or, if you have a youngster that truly covets his or her time alone, the addition of a secluded hammock could get them out of doors. And, when they are not hogging this delightful garden seat, it can be yours to watch them from as they perform tricks on that trampoline. The point is any of these ideas could prompt an enjoyable result for young and older alike. It could draw your teen outside into the garden, and into another part of your world. Now that does sound like a favourable garden.