Teen Hangout Gardens: Tips On Designing Gardens For Teenagers

Teenagers In A Backyard Eating Food Around A Fire Pit
teens
(Image credit: monkeybusinessimages)

There are trends in everything these days, including garden design. One top trend is teen hangout gardens. Creating a backyard for teens gives them a space to hang out with their friends, close to home but away from the adults. If you’ve never heard of teenage garden design, read on. We’ll fill you in on what gardens for teenagers look like and how you can do this yourself.

Teenage Garden Design

If you’ve been wanting to get your teens in the garden, teenage garden design is a way to accomplish that end. Instead of forcing your teens out into the family garden, you create teen hangout gardens for them to enjoy.

Teen hangout gardens are similar to the dens earlier generations made for their adolescents. Like dens, gardens for teenagers are separate from adult areas – built and furnished just for young people, and they are outside where most teenagers like to be.

Creating a Backyard for Teens

If you are thinking of creating a backyard for teens, you can hire an expert in garden design. You can also plan it yourself. Obviously, the size depends on your backyard and your finances, but the elements to include are pretty universal.

You’ll want chairs, benches, or lounge sofas where your teens and their friends can sprawl. While part of this may be in the sun, you’ll want some shaded area to offer a retreat from midday heat.

Other popular elements in teenage garden design include proximity to the pool, if you have one. Also consider the addition of a firepit, outdoor fireplace, or even a grill where burgers can sizzle. Consider adding a small refrigerator to keep the drinks cold too.

Some parents go so far as to make the teen hangout gardens an independent living space. They build the garden next to an outbuilding that has beds where teens can sleep, bathroom facilities, and a small kitchen.

Gardens for teenagers can be as fancy as you like, but a simple sitting area away from grown-up areas of the garden is the key. Work with your teens to include their favorite types of trees and plants as well as space for their favorite types of outdoor games.

Teo Spengler
Writer

Teo Spengler has been gardening for 30 years. She is a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. Her passion is trees, 250 of which she has planted on her land in France.