“We’ve all been practicing our ‘backyarding’ skills for the last few years,
taking our indoor lives out into the green space around us,” says Kris Kiser,
president & CEO of the Turf Mutt Foundation. “Now’s a great time to turn your yard into the ideal outdoor
summer room.”
According to a recent poll commissioned by the TurfMutt Foundation and conducted online by
The Harris Poll, more than three-quarters of Americans who have a yard (76%)
say the family yard space is one of the most important parts of their
home.
READ MORE: Create a backyard theme park!
Here are seven ideas from the TurfMutt Foundation to turn an ordinary yard
into a summer oasis for fun and relaxation:
1. Give
your yard a facelift. The first step to establishing a summer
fun zone is to work with what you have. Clean out flowerbeds, clear the yard of
debris, spread a fresh layer of mulch around trees and bushes, and keep the
grass mowed. See what additional trees, shrubs and plants might be needed. Use
outdoor power equipment to make even big jobs easier (e.g. a pole trimmer for
pruning trees, a leaf blower to tidy your flowerbeds, a riding mower for big
lawns, or a hedge trimmer for your bushes).
2. List
all the fun you want to have outside. Identify activity zones
for games, entertaining and relaxation. Can your lawn lure your kids away from
their screens and into the great outdoors for cornhole, soccer, bocce ball,
croquet, or a giant checkers board game? Do you have a patio table or deck
where family game nights can be held? Have a swimming pool where you can plan a
“dive in” movie night, and invite your neighbors to bring their favorite pool
float? You can even plan a memorable family staycation in your own backyard
with camping, parties and more. Get your children’s buy-in by involving them in
the planning.
3. Bring
learning outdoors. Just because school is out doesn’t mean the
learning should end. Avoid the “summer slide” by setting up an area for outdoor
learning, like a space under a shade tree where your kids can do summer
reading. Create games and do experiments outdoors with TurfMutt’s
lesson plans (new ones this year!) which teach kids to be backyard
superheroes like Mulligan the TurfMutt . The activities are so fun your kids
will never know they’re learning science lessons. Check them out here.
4. Don’t
forget Fido. Pets are part of the family, too, so think about
what backyard improvements you can make to ensure they fully enjoy the dog days
of summer. Add a water feature for them to cool off. Plant some bushes for
napping in the shade. Use a row of hedges to separate their “business” spot
from the rest of the backyard activity areas. Just remember when planting to
check the ASPCA’s
list of toxic and non-toxic plants.
5. Make
outdoors as inviting as indoors. Think about ways to make your
outdoor living area just as comfortable as your indoor spaces. String lights
add a warm glow. A firepit is great for toasting marshmallows. A new deck or
hardscaping could be just the ticket for taking your backyard oasis from boring
to brilliant.
6. Consider
the good you’re doing. Whether putting in a vegetable garden,
planting pollinator-supporting shrubs and flowers, or creating activity zones,
your family yard can do a lot—all at once both for your family and the
environment. A grassy area is not only a field for play, but it’s also an
excellent carbon-capturing and oxygen-producing space. Planting shrubs and
flowering plants feeds our birds, bees, and butterflies. A leafy tree is a
perfect perch for a relaxing swing in a hammock and it provides shade to combat
the heat island effect. It also produces oxygen and captures carbon. A garden
where you can grow some of the food your family will enjoy this summer gets you
digging in the dirt, proven to be good for our immune systems and happiness.
(Soil is the new Prozac, after all.)
7. Put
safety first. When working outdoors, always remember no children
or pets around operating outdoor power equipment.
Check out the TurfMutt infographic for more summer fun ideas.
For more information, sign up for Mutt Mail, a monthly e-newsletter with
backyarding tips and all the news from the TurfMutt Foundation here.
To learn more about creating the yard of your dreams, visit TurfMutt.com. Look
for Mulligan the TurfMutt on the CBS Lucky Dog television show. Here is a link
to download the International Backyarding Fact Book, to learn why spending time
in our yards and community parks is good for us…and the planet.
TurfMutt was created by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute’s (OPEI) TurfMutt
Foundation and has reached more than 70 million children, educators and
families since 2009. Championed by Foundation spokesdog, Mulligan the TurfMutt,
and through education partners such as Weekly Reader, Discovery Education and
Scholastic, TurfMutt has taught students and teachers how to “save the planet,
one yard at a time.” Today, TurfMutt is an official USGBC® Education Partner
and part of their global LEARNING LAB. TurfMutt has been an education resource
at the U.S. Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools, the U.S. Department
of Energy, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Green Apple, the Center
for Green Schools, the Outdoors Alliance for Kids, the National Energy
Education Development (NEED) project, Climate Change Live, Petfinder and the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In 2017, the TurfMutt animated video series won
the coveted Cynopsis Kids Imagination Award for Best Interstitial Series.
TurfMutt’s personal, home habitat was featured in the 2017-2020 Wildlife
Habitat Council calendars. More information at TurfMutt.com.