According to the TurfMutt Foundation, which advocates for the care and use of our backyards, community parks, and other green spaces around us, 2023 is the year of the master backyarder. “Backyarding” is the act of taking activities normally done indoors to the great outdoors such as our yards and parks. Today, people are elevating their outdoor life to master backyarder status.

“For Master Backyarders, living and working outdoors is an integral part of everyday life,” explains Kris Kiser, president & CEO of the TurfMutt Foundation. “Time to relax? They go outside. Have a web call? They set up their laptop on their deck or patio. Have a party to throw? They do in their backyard.”

So how do you know if you are a Master Backyarder? The TurfMutt Foundation says to ask yourself these questions:

• Do you use your yard for recreation, like parties and barbeques?
• Do you take work outside, like a laptop on a deck or a study session under a shade tree?
• Have you created an outdoor fun zone in your backyard for your kids and pets?
• Do you use your yard as a place to be still and de-stress?
• Have you staged a “staycation” for your family in your own backyard?
• Do you recognize your backyard as an urban habitat that is an important part of the connected ecosystem?
• Do you plant with pollinators and other backyard wildlife in mind?
• Have you added a mix of trees, shrubs, grass and flowering plants to your yard, putting the right plant in the right place?
• Have you used your backyard or community park as a living science lab to teach kids hands-on STEM lessons?
• Are you an outdoor evangelist who shares with friends and family about the benefits of getting outside, starting in your own backyard?

If you answered yes to the majority of the questions above, congratulations! You are mastering outdoor life.

“Master backyarders are inspirational, and we should all strive to level up our outdoor living to this status,” Kiser concludes. “This spring is the perfect time to take the next step to living life more outdoors.”

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.