Our Little Wonderland

nixie in Comstock Park, MI

I love to garden! I can't resist planting up every sqaure inch of earth I get my hands on, but it was equally important to me that the yard belong very much to our children as well. I wanted the kids' areas to be part of the gardens, and the gardens to be part of the kids areas. Our goal was to create our own little Wonderland that our entire family could get lost in and enjoy. The gardens are all organic, ornamentals and edibles are all planted together. I like the natural, wild style of the garden, I think it adds to the whimsical character and keeps it all un-fussy and kid tough. This has been a labor of love that has evolved over ten years, making use of recyled materials, my husbands mad carpentry skills, and the collaborative imaginations of our entire family.

Back Yard Fun for Kids Garden Medium (1,000 - 5,000 sq ft.) Outbuilding Path / Walkway Pond Stone / Rock Waterfall

Vote274 Favorite

1 of 15: Our castle, the focal point of the backyard. It has a spiral staircase going up the left tower, a bridge to the right tower, and a covered slide. The swing under the bridge is my 6yr. old's favorite part of the yard The ground floor of the right tower has a sand box. Each room is tall enough for an adult to stand in. It was built almost entirely of recycled materials and took two years to build.

2 of 15: Path to the castle.

3 of 15: Our eldest daugther is a checkers fanatic. We built the 16 foot square checker board for her. ps.The big lollipops in the ground were just there for our youngest daughter's Birthday party...

4 of 15

5 of 15: I love this quirky planter!

6 of 15: The White Rabbit's house in my Alice in Wonderland garden, notice the giant feet sticking out.

7 of 15: Our kinda-sorta pirate ship. It's actually a half-of-a-ship turned deck. We built the lower deck around the pine tree, and used the tree for the sails. The kids love walking the plank!

8 of 15: Another view of the pirate ship.

9 of 15: Hobbit hole enterance to the swingset area covered with porcelain vine. I'm training grapevine to climb up the frame of the swing set. This picture was taken in the spring, the porcelain vine is massive now.

10 of 15: Looking through the hobbit hole, from the swingset area to the rest of the yard.

11 of 15: Little deck for the wading pool. We've dubbed this area "Turtle Beach"

12 of 15: A mini-patio table set at "Turtle Beach".

13 of 15: We used two molded ponds, put a bridge between them to give the illusion of one large pond. We installed a sandbox/beach around it with a deck on the side and mini-patio. This area was dubbed, "Turtle beach" after a spitting turtle statue. The statue, sadly, crumbled, but the name stuck. The kids love to jump off the bridge, and play in the waterfall.

14 of 15: looking from the pirate area to the castle.

15 of 15: The bunny barn. There is a little bunny playground that you can't see to the right of the barn. We raise bunnies for entertaniment, companionship, and the wonderfaul fertilizer they provide!