My first thought is trees. I grew up just outside the northwest corner of Baltimore, Maryland, USA, a neighborhood known as Lochearn. It was suburban, modest homes on small lots.
Ours had a typical grassy lawn but just adjacent was a part of the neighborhood where the houses were nested in trees, like maybe, I might have thought, some of the original forested landscape that was here (?) Between my elementary school and middle school was a place known as “The Woods”, maybe 1/4 mile wide and 1/2 mile long, with trails that made it seem like you were far away in a wild forest It had these large boulders at the east entrance, that was a gathering spot.
It was interesting when I returned as an adult how much smaller everything was!
I cant say I was influenced as a tree love or to later come to love wandering in much larger and wilder natural spaces, especially when I moved to the southwest US, but something about being able to play and wander in a forest made for a place of imagination from the ordinary world (?).
Yes, something about growing up under and near trees is what stands out.
Oh and one more thing. The homes of our neighbors down the street and around the corner, all was essentially a common space. Kids would just roam from one yard to the next or use another homes swing set or another’s basketball hoop. This was the norm of homes in Lochearn. It never felt like there were strict borders. When I later moved to Phoenix, Arizona I was rather struck that the norm there (and many other cities) was for all yards to be fenced, separate. Understandable, I came to see for maybe privacy, but there was not the same kind of shared space I remembered.
Looking forward to reading more responses to this QOTD.