By Emily Gibson.
Spending time outdoors is important for both physical and mental health. Being surrounded by plants and trees can help us relax, unwind and cool down outside while also providing the many health benefits of fresh air and sun.
There are many ways to enjoy your backyard. Pitching a tent for a night of backyard camping is fun for the whole family, while planting a garden can become a relaxing hobby that also saves you money on groceries. And with a few DIYs, you can build your own green oasis in your back or front yard, bringing the beauty of nature right home with you.
Contents
The Benefits of the Outdoors
Any seasoned camper will tell you the many benefits of spending long periods of time outdoors.
Being outside is proven to boost physical and mental health. Spending a few hours unwinding among the trees, sunshine and sounds of wildlife can help you feel more rejuvenated and relaxed. Plus, the fresh air and sun is good for your physical wellbeing.
For kids, studies have shown that exposure to green spaces can lead to a decreased risk of psychiatric disorders in adolescence. But with today’s culture of social media, video games and screen time, it can be hard to get kids interested in going to play outside.
How can we encourage kids — and ourselves — to enjoy all that nature has to offer? Part of the answer can involve making green spaces more fun, accessible and relaxing.
Get Outside at Home
You don’t have to go on a long trek to find green space — in fact, you can bring that green space right into your home. Making a few changes to your front and back yards can make these spaces awesome and relaxing places for your entire family to use and enjoy.
We’ve compiled a list of green spaces to consider adding to your home.
Split-Level Gardens
These gardens aim to make you feel surrounded by greenery, as if you’re walking out into a forest. Planting large plants, shrubs, bushes, flowers and other greens in tiered planters can help you create a dynamic garden that is both visually stunning and relaxing.
Treehouses
A treehouse is a super fun way to get kids excited about spending time in the backyard — but it can also be a super fun space for adults to hang out! Installing a treehouse into a large, sturdy tree is a great way to enjoy all that your backyard has to offer. As a bonus for campers: it can make you feel like you’re staying in a log cabin out in the wilderness!
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Pond or Water Features
You don’t have to be hiking alongside a stream to get that pleasant and relaxing sound of a babbling brook. Installing a pond or backyard water feature doesn’t have to mean sinking thousands of dollars into something extravagant — it can be as complex or simple as you want to make it.
Wildlife Habitats
That excitement of spotting a new species of bird on a long hike? You can bring that right into your backyard. Setting up a wildlife habitat in your backyard means purchasing the plants, living spaces and feeders that can cater to your neighborhood’s ecosystem. Once you’ve built your space, you can even get it certified by the National Wildlife Federation.
Green Spaces: What if I Live in An Apartment or Condo?
Though it might be discouraging to not have a large yard to work with, living in an apartment or condo doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the many benefits of nature and green space.
Plant Walls
Plant walls are a great way to create a living, beautiful green space inside of your home or on your balcony. Creating a plant wall involves hanging planting boxes from floor to ceiling, either by investing in a trellis-like structure or building one large planter box on the wall. You can pick flowers, plants or cacti to inhabit the box and bring your living plant wall to life.
Window Boxes
Window or balcony boxes are a solution for the avid gardener who has been left without a garden. These boxes can be easily hung over the windowsill or balcony railing and filled with herbs, plants or flowers. You can reap the emotional (and sometimes financial!) benefits of gardening without having to have a big yard to house your garden.
At the end of the day, all you need to enjoy the green spaces in your home is an appreciation for the outdoors. Whether you choose to go big and build an intricate split-level garden that surrounds you on all sides, or want to keep it simple with a few lawn chairs and a fire pit, taking the time to get outside will have proven benefits for you and your family.
For more tips on green spaces you can add to your home, check out the following infographic, provided courtesy of hippo.com:
Emily is a content creator in Austin, Texas, who loves her dog, her roller skates, and a good documentary. When she isn’t typing away at her desk, you can find her plotting her next trip to Big Bend National Park or making and deleting online shopping carts.
We have been trying to make our yard as green as possible. I will have to think about adding a few from your list as well.
Yes green is so welcome. And nature around the only way to keep healthy breathing fresh air everyday. You took me back time when during childhood we had a big garden with plants, flowers and vegetables. Good old days.
These are some really cool ideas. I am a nature lover. Would love to incorporate the treehouse idea. Interesting fact that only 2 hrs a week in nature can lead to good health. Nature is everything!
Lots of great ideas on bringing green spaces into our living spaces. So important now more than ever to pay attention to how we can do this to improve our mental health. I have a sustainable garden, no yard, all plants that I get to appreciate all year round. As well as a pond and open veggie garden that everyone helps themselves to in the neighborhood.
Definitely great ideas, especially now during the pandemic. Last year we put a tent to our backyard and it was great fun for kids as we weren’t able to travel. And a great way to practise camping too. They had so much as we read stories, had snacks and slept in a sleeping back. I would love to have a pond but we live in California and it is very dry here. We do feed birds and it brings us joy.
Back in my hometown I lived in a house surrounded by green space on all sides. However currently all I have is a small balcony. Also with a toddler I hardly have time to maintain a garden. So I’m getting some ideas on reading about plant walls & window boxes. Will try something now.
We moved to a small condo when we thought we were travelling 6 months a year. I must admit that this long time at home has got us craving green spaces at home. While we can get out for walks, we have no outdoor space that is our own. We don’t have green thumbs so have always avoided plants at home. But we may need to do that if we don’t soon move!
I have great memories of my dad pitching the tent in the backyard for me to have sleepovers with my friends as a child. These days I have a very small cement patio. I have a water feature and lots of potted plants. I hadn’t thought of creating a plant wall but like the idea. I’m going to check Pinterest for some ideas tonight
Great ideas. I’ve even added a small hydroponics system indoors for growing lettuce and mini peppers. I tried tomatoes but they practically took over the whole house!
Your infographics are really awesome. Since it’s spring, my family is starting our vegetable garden. I love flowers and plants on our porch. It’s cool to sight and gives you a refreshing view.
I would love to have a full plant wall. It’d be so cute.
These are all beautiful options…We live in a condo and we have a little vertical garden, we love it.
I’ve started my indoor plant collection ever since quarantine started in 2020. I also try to have my morning coffee outside in our back patio as much as possible. Starting the day outside is so soothing.
Love these ideas! I will definitely try some of them to make my outdoor and indoor home more beautiful. Thank you!
Inspiring ideas about how to go green outdoor and indoor! I love treehouse, especially. Treehouse is a paradise for kids. It’s also an adult escapist fantasy embrace with the emotions for adventure-seeking, nostalgia, and proximity to the wild of nature. By and large, it helps you to slow down and awaken the spirit of the child within 🙂
I am not into gardening, but my guy loves it so I was thinking of starting it. Your guide is great!
I love this idea. I’m always thinking of ways to bring a piece of nature into my home.
I so agree with everything here. I am so happy that in our place, so many people are enjoying planting now.
These are definitely amazing ideas. I already live on a farm in the middle of nowhere but it would be nice to add a plant wall, water feature, atrium and a treehouse into the mix.
I love this post. I’m good at being outside and hiking in the woods and stuff like that, but not that great with gardening and plants.
This is such a beautiful post. I want to add some green spaces to my home as well as I know it helps and benefits in many ways. As I stay in a unit, I think the green space on a wall in my balcony would be the best. Thanks for this list, I am motivated to do this today.
I’ve never been one for outdoors, EVER, but I went on my first picnic yesterday with some friends and it was SO lovely and peaceful and I can’t even explain how calm I felt. I think I could have fallen asleep right there and then – and for someone with a sleeping disorder, that’s a big deal! So I am definitely going to try and get outdoors more often, and maybe even bring outdoors IN, with plants and such.
I love all of these tips! I definitely would like to start a plant wall in our backyard, make a little oasis for us to enjoy. Great read, thank you 🙂
Wow so many great ideas. We will be moving into a new home soon and this has definitely given me some ideas!
These are great tips! I need to do more outside gardening stuff!
Plant walls are such a nice idea. I think it’s a unique way of decorating your house, plus you benefit from the fresh oxygen.
The benefits of having green spaces are really awesome! It gives such a peaceful feeling and is a stress buster.
We have a spot in our yard that kind of grows wild. My husband mows it, but otherwise we don’t use it. I keep telling him we should just throw wildflower seeds back there and maybe try to encourage bees that way.
I love plant walls and window boxes! This is such a great idea. Just having some greenery around definitely brightens my moods. Thanks for sharing!
sounds awesome! I wish I had a garden or yard where I live but alas
I just adore everything related with the outdoors, so healthy!!
Best article for the environment. I love plants and we really need to make our green space at home.