waldorf inspired backyard in the city

[Bena]

What does your waldorf inspired backyard look like if you live in the city?

[mommariffic]

We live outside Manhattan [across river] and have a good sized yard for a city -- we have a sand and water table, a wooden table for doing crafts, a veggie garden and a kids mud/dirt garden, an herb and rock exploring area.

I think having small, little areas is fine. Some dirt to dig in, and the water/sand table is the most played with thing when the weather is right. Hours a day!

[honeybunmom]

We live in the City. We've only been in our home for not quite a year, though. So, our back yard is still in the making. So far, we've taken advantage of the storms and picked up a good amount of cut tree limbs and trunks when the City has come through to clear them We have a huge cottonwood tree and will be hanging a tire swing. We also hope to have a garden next summer and to build a mud pie kitchen for the kids.

This year, in the front yard, we were able to plant some flowers that attract butterflies.

[zoebird]

we live in the city, and our waldorf playgroup is in the city. the kindy is also in the city and has a small yard. the playgroup's yard is a bit larger; it has a rather large yard, actually, for a city spot.

they all seem to follow the same pattern, honestly.

first, the fence line is planted with something--usually some kind of vine or close hedge, to create a green backdrop.

then, a little path is made around the perimeter, this is usually called their "nature walk" and at certain parts, there are plantings--large and small--that create a sense of the path being hidden for parts of it. it's really common to use the various NZ flaxes to create this--they grow quickly, have interesting flowers and berries, and also the leaves come in many shapes and colors (dark purple-black, red, green, yellow, gold, a blue-green and in long leaves, small skinny leaves, curly leaves, and so on).

then, the area within this space generally has a number of little play areas--a sand pit (usually surrounded by stumps with a basket of kitchen stuff to play with), a half barrel with water in it (usually nestled against one of the grass plantings) and relatively close to the sand pit, and then a climbing, small wood structure of some kind. some might also have a slide--our playgroup has one built into the hill.

near the porch/entry, they have garden boxes for veggies/fruit/herbs, and a few potted plants too.

it's really quite nice.

our 'yard' is small, and actually the 'yard' of our downstairs neighbors, but our landlord said we could redo it. not knowing the lead situation, i've decided to do a flower/cottage garden. i have two raised beds that i can use--one rather on top of the other--and of course i can put out potted plants. i need to build gates for both ends and a compost bin, but otherwise, it should be fine. i thought i would put in a pretty, shallow bowl to collect rainwater for the baby and birds to play in, put up some sort of bird feeder system, and build window boxes and an indoor herb box for the house.

i'm not doing a sand box because there are too many feral cats in our area, and i don't want to have to worry about covers, issues of water and bacteria in the box, and so on. so, i'm just ditching that. he can play in the garden itself, though. i also want to put in a narrow lounge, a place to sit and read while he plays outside. i'll have plies of rocks, wood, and shells, too, so he can play until his little heart is content.

that's where we are here. i like to keep it simple.

[zoebird]

oops!

[tallulahma]

we live in an apartment in the bay area. We only have a concrete patio, but we are lucky to live right on a lagoon with paths for walking.


but on our immediate patio we have lots of plants, moss grows all on one side, flowers, etc. we have a little table out there that the girls build fairy houses on.

we are planning on getting a couple galvanized tubs for water play. we go to the ocean often enough to not need a sandbox... although that was the main point of attraction at our old house.

we have bird houses out there, we make bird feeders with pinecones... we have little beeswax candle holder lanterns we keep out there.