The term “backyarding” refers to the trend of using your backyard for everything from tele-working and working out to relaxing and recreating. It has a different purpose for each of us.
Identifying your backyard’s role in your family’s health and happiness is the key to cultivating a purposeful outdoor space customized to suit your needs.
Here are just a few backyarding personality types from the TurfMutt Foundation. Which one(s) are you?
Expert Landscaper
Your yard makes neighbours green with envy. You know how to maintain a healthy living landscape all year long, and you have the latest outdoor power equipment to make even big jobs easier. Your idea of a good time? Spending the weekend doing yardwork.
Environmentalist
You know that nature starts in your own backyard and that taking small steps in your yard can make a big impact on climate change. As the proverbial Robin to your yard’s Batman, you embrace your role in supporting the superhero powers of your living landscape (capturing and filtering rainwater, producing oxygen, absorbing carbon, trapping dust and particular matter and helping with soil erosion).
Nature Lover
You subscribe to “Nature TV” and spend your free time watching the birds, bats, butterflies and other wildlife that count on your yard for food and shelter. You cultivate a living landscape that supports a rich biodiversity with, flowering plants, water sources, and trees and shrubs with nooks for nesting and food.
Horticulturist
Plant zone information is bookmarked on your browser because putting the right plant in the right place is the Golden Rule you live by. You consider location, maintenance, sunlight and watering requirements, as well as your climate zone and lifestyle needs, before you even think about sticking your shovel in the dirt.
Kid Zone Creator
You know the safest place for your kids to be is in their own backyard, and you work hard to create an outdoor fun zone. A flat area of sturdy turfgrass to play sports and pitch a tent? Check. Treehouse? Check. Zipline strung safely between backyard trees? Check. An elevated garden where they can help grow vegetables? Check. Natural playscapes, like a patch of sand bordered by rocks and log stump seating? Check.
Pet Pamperer
You take cues from your four-legged friends about how to purpose your backyard. You’ve planted sturdy turfgrass like Buffalo or Bermuda that can stand up to pet play, and used soft foliage to create a natural barricade between “off limits” areas and the rest of the lawn. Trees and shrubs are strategically planted for shade, and you’ve even set up a shallow water feature to help your pup cool off on hot days. Planting with purpose for you means keeping toxic plants out of the picture.
Entertainer Extraordinaire
Your backyard was the neighborhood hot spot long before the pandemic made that trend posh. Family milestones, birthdays, graduations, reunions, socially distanced BBQs – your yard is *the* place to gather. Your yard is set up for success with patio furniture, fire pit, yard games, plenty of outdoor seating, string lights, and maybe even an outdoor kitchen.
Zen Master
You enjoy your morning coffee on the balcony as songbirds serenade you. Meditating under the shade of a tree or de-stressing by swinging in a hammock are your jam. Your backyard is your sacred space for rest, relaxation and rejuvenation. You know that spending time outside is good for your health and well-being. And thanks to your yard these benefits are only steps away.
Whatever your backyarding personality is, sign up for Mutt Mail, a monthly e-newsletter with backyarding tips and all the news from the TurfMutt Foundation, and take your yard to the next level.
To learn more about creating the yard of your dreams, visit TurfMutt.com.
