Good bye backyard

Backyard renovation television shows seem to have overlooked what a backyard is really all about.

When I was growing up, a back yard was somewhere to play games and run around. Being sent outside until dinner time was a blessing. A backyard was a rambling place full of hidey holes, unsightly makeshift cubby houses and deliciously wet mud patches that were perfect for cooking up mud pies or better still – a mud fight.

When the words ‘tea time’ were hollered from the back screen door, kids would clamber inside covered in leaves, mulberry stains and dirt. Friends who had ‘good backyards’ had big backyards. The more run down the better. Twisted tin fences were ideal for spying on neighbours. Long grass with wild butternut pumpkins and tomatoes were an ideal war zone. If there was a rusting car wreck you had it made. Big sheds were dilapidated places that held ‘kids only’ meetings in between broken mowers and deadly looking tools that were there when your folks first bought the house.

These days I can only wonder what is left for kids to do in the pristine ‘pebble-and-bamboo’ yards that are taking over Sydney? Big decks and paved yards? Tell me where is a kid supposed to dig a hole to bury their pirate treasure? A succulent in a ceramic pot won’t stand up to a commando role. If there isn’t any ‘stuff’ stacked down the side of the house, how can seven year olds invent new games to play? A spare door to turn into an ocean liner. Old jars to fill with water and flower petals to make perfume potions for mum.

Can you remember the excitement of being five and exploring a backyard that looked like a jungle? I mean, how can a store bought water feature compare to a sloping corner of the yard that can be turned into a small lake with giant earthworms to throw at your sister?

It’s a shame that property prices take priority over children’s need burn off energy and create an imaginative outdoor world.