Slide and swing in garden - low maintenance surfaces

fitzie79

I have a slide and saying set in the garden. At the moment its just on grass but this involves some maintenance through strimming to keep the height down as there I'd nit enough source for the ride on to get through. I want to put something under the swings that will reduce the requirement for cutting the grass. One thought was bark over a weed barrier with maybe rubber mating in the high use areas to stop the bark being moved away. I'd also like to put some form of edging to prevent the bark spilling over into the grass.

Any suggestions or pictures of good solutions that have worked for others?

handlemaster

fitzie79 wrote: »

I have a slide and saying set in the garden. At the moment its just on grass but this involves some maintenance through strimming to keep the height down as there I'd nit enough source for the ride on to get through. I want to put something under the swings that will reduce the requirement for cutting the grass. One thought was bark over a weed barrier with maybe rubber mating in the high use areas to stop the bark being moved away. I'd also like to put some form of edging to prevent the bark spilling over into the grass.

Any suggestions or pictures of good solutions that have worked for others?[/QUOI dontTE]

I dont have one myself. but bark will blow around your garden and break down eventually and be dirty. so kids will be dirty. id put down weed control barrier and small stones/pebbles i have seen this used very effectly in france in public kids areas. its clean and surprising soft to land on provided to place a few inches. obviously pebbles without shrap edges

magicbastarder

i've seen rummber matting - the open grain sort, which allows water to percolate through easily - in a few places. not fantastically cheap though, i think the last place i saw it was charging €35 per sq.m. for it.

monkeynuz

You can buy bark chips specifically for children's play areas, it won't blow around, and buy some sort of lawn edging product from homebase or somehwere.

Sgt Pepper 64

monkeynuz wrote: »

You can buy bark chips specifically for children's play areas, it won't blow around, and buy some sort of lawn edging product from homebase or somehwere.

Thats exactly what I did.
Railway sleepers from building suppliers. €22 euro needed 5 of them, dug into the ground just high enough to keep everything in
ton of sand (to make it soft for the kids
mypec ground covering on top of the sand
recycled rubber bark chips on top of mypec
animals dont foul in them, they dont blow away or rot away
Looks great, very safe, no maintenence

I'll try and post a pic

paddy147

You can buy a 2.4 meter long (8 feet long) pressure treated railway sleeper for 19-20 euro in a builders providers.

A 16 foot lenght of pressure treated 3 x 2 is 10 euro.
Cut that down to make 9-10 stakes.


Then lay the sleepers down on the area you are wanting the play area.

Hammer in the stakes (3 per sleeper) behind each sleeper.Then screw in some 80-100mm long outdoor deck screws or stainless steel screws through the stakes into the backs of the sleepers.


This will make for a good sturdy edging/border.

Simples.:)




You also can buy rubber chippings (made from recycled car tyres) from any good builders providers or garden centre/nursery in ton bags or in smaller 20kg size bags.

They can be had in black,blue,green,brown and red.

Mypex weed barrier is around 55-60 euro for a 1.5 meter wide x 50 meter long roll.

Sonnenblumen

fitzie79 wrote: »

I have a slide and saying set in the garden. At the moment its just on grass but this involves some maintenance through strimming to keep the height down as there I'd nit enough source for the ride on to get through. I want to put something under the swings that will reduce the requirement for cutting the grass. One thought was bark over a weed barrier with maybe rubber mating in the high use areas to stop the bark being moved away. I'd also like to put some form of edging to prevent the bark spilling over into the grass.

Any suggestions or pictures of good solutions that have worked for others?

Very difficult to retain bark mulch on a weed barrier unless it is at least 100mm deep and kept moist. A raised edge is an obvious hazard (trip and impact) around any play area. Why not excavate a small amount of soil and lay rubber tiles around play equipment or install a synthetic grass surface which is fixed to a perimeter frame set flush with lawn level. No strimming, no edging and no hazards. Cheaper and better performance too!

paddy147

They are selling off rubber tiles in Homebase at the moment....if thats of any use to you.

6 euro 66 cents per tile.

prospect

paddy147 wrote: »

Then lay the sleepers down on the area you are wanting the play area.

Hammer in the stakes (3 per sleeper) behind each sleeper.Then screw in some 80-100mm long outdoor deck screws or stainless steel screws through the stakes into the backs of the sleepers.

I wouldn't be keen on the idea of having the sleepers raised from the ground. Too much of a trip hazard and also banging their heads off the raised edges & corners.
Also, there will still be the issue of mowing/strimming to the edge of the sleeper.

Personally I wouldn't go to the expense of sleepers, I'd get a thinner (and cheaper) pressure treated timber and dig it into the ground, and go with (again cheaper) round pebbles around the playset.

Here is my back yard, (photo taken a few years ago), with pebbles around the play area:

Phil.x

prospect wrote: »

I wouldn't be keen on the idea of having the sleepers raised from the ground. Too much of a trip hazard and also banging their heads off the raised edges & corners.
Also, there will still be the issue of mowing/strimming to the edge of the sleeper.

Personally I wouldn't go to the expense of sleepers, I'd get a thinner (and cheaper) pressure treated timber and dig it into the ground, and go with (again cheaper) round pebbles around the playset.

Here is my back yard, (photo taken a few years ago), with pebbles around the play area:

Looks great, how did you find the use of pebbles and what type are they.

_Brian

Phil.x wrote: »

Looks great, how did you find the use of pebbles and what type are they.

We used regular blue chippings under our play equipment, nice and clean and easy on any falls. Very cheap too, put down about 4 inches. €10/ton when we did it 8 years ago.

It's great as it dries instantly after rain and the kids can go straight out to play. Bark mulch etc can be a soggy mess after rain and need replacement regularly.

lassykk

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but I'm getting a similar set up to the above one with the pic and I think the solution of stone is excellent and looks really well... I know that poster hasn't been online in a few years but if anyone else has done this work could then advise on the below as it's completely new to me:

Do you need to just dig down a few inches and fill up with stone?

Do you put something down to create an "end" to the stones (is this the treated wood?) - ours will just be in a patch of our garden

How do you prevent weeds getting up through the stone?