Landscaping can be fun if you use creativity and educational thinking to create a superb play space. Taking the time to design a garden for children and grandchildren and getting them to participate in the process can turn this space into a kingdom able to lure its potential users away from their screens. Installing a play set, sand box or teepee will make it fun for the little ones. Siting the space in a spot that makes it visible from the house, usually from the kitchen, means that they’ll be safer, and a roof or sail over the sand box will protect little playmates from the sun’s rays. Grow some pretty plants climbing up the supports…perhaps the northern kiwi, which is edible. Choose a play module that can evolve over time and the space will be enjoyed for years; where there was a seesaw, install a climbing wall.

The very young will enjoy seeing small creatures and learning about nature, so make sure to exclude poisonous plants. Building a mini vegetable garden and teaching the children to sow, plant, water and care for their harvest could well make the most recalcitrant try vegetables they have grown themselves.

Do you have a truly large space? Create a fitness course and balance games with the elements of your land: rocks to climb, tree trunks to walk along and trees to climb. Biking fans will enjoy creating a pump track – a track made of modules specifically designed for BMX-type bikes. Many parents get into the fun…. And what about spaces for yoga or meditation, surrounded by nature, or perhaps an area for pétanque or bocce, or a volleyball court?

A garden can be gloriously fun. It’s just a matter of giving full rein to your imagination.