HELP me plan a toddler friendly garden please!

[EffieB]

We have a pretty tiny back garden, bigger than a yard but not much, and a rampaging toddler desperate to be outside from about six thirty in the morning!

At the min it consists of several deep concrete steps from the door up to a small concrete path, then a decked step up to some (in bad condition and very slippy) decking, then another step up to a small higher up decking bit.

Any tips on how to make it more baby friendly and also what things I could put in it to make a small space more interesting for toddlers? I know I'm looking less for plant advice than general garden design numpty (as in I'm the numpty) advice, but thought there might be brilliant and creative garden people who could wow me with clever suggestions. All I do at the minute is gaze enviously at lovely flat grass gardens of houses we can't afford...

forgot to say we don't have much budget so a total overhawl out of the question, looked at getting it grassed over but as there's some concrete underneath it was way out of our budget- any suggestions of things you could put over concrete that would still be fine for toddlers to be on much appreciated though

So are you saying that it's on three levels, with one main level, and that it's basically all concrete, with decking on the main middle level? And that you think you have to keep the concrete?

What are you ideally hoping for? How would it look if you could do anything to it?

Could you take a photo and put it on your profile?

How much money do you have available for it?

Personally I think decking is fine for toddlers if it is well maintained - can be used all year found, unlike grass, and is relatively warm and soft underfoot. I would look at renovating the decking first and getting some compact play equipment - a pop-up tunnel and playhouse if you are really short if space. A sandpit if you can bear the mess (you could get someone to build one into the deck so the lid forms part of the deck)

You can get a special grippy paint on finish for decking which would make it not slippy. The one thing I would bear in mind for bare feet, our decking wasn't the cheapest but DS (5) does get splinters on occasion.

Agree with decorhate sandpit is a definite yes, with a lid (keeps the cats and rain out).

Astroturf is as expensive as you want it to be - depending on the quality and realistic-ness.

Is there a wall that you could fix a blackboard too? A little planting area or plant trough would be great, when DS was younger he had a little patch in the veg garden and loved planting. Water play too, a little clothes line for washing and hanging up. A plastic mirror for all that posing.....ooh I could go on and on!

I used to live in a (rented) house with decking on 2 levels and gravel on the 3rd (lowest) level, with concrete steps up the side. I always said if I owned the house I would love to have built some kind of play structure/equipment into the decking - playhouse, slide, sandpit as have been mentioned.

If that doesn't fill you with joy It might be possible to build something temporary or arrange a plastic slide etc that you could remove or turn into something more adult when your DS is older or you move.

You do need to treat the decking so it doesn't get slippery. It probably won't stop ice, but should stop algae etc making it slippery in the rain. You can also put chicken wire flat on top of it which will give grip.

I agree that photos would help. We can then show you interesting ideas rendered in MS Paint

Ooo this is great, thankyou for all suggestions so far.

Post xmas we don't have a functioning camera in the house, but I will do a picture if we get it sorted out soon.

I think we are stuck with the decking- the people before us put it over an old (apparently quite tatty though I've not seen it) car port. We were told we would need it broken up before we could put grass down, and the cost of that was more than we could afford. The only other surface I wondered about was round pebbles, but are they practical for a toddler to be trying to walk on (or falling off a small slide onto)? I don't know.

Happy with sandpit, a great idea, and yes we could def fix a blackboard up I think? The decking bit is flat so it would be fine for a trike etc.. it's just so slippy at min. I've tried to treat it with a mould cleaner I was recommended (it's still pretty slippy though), is there any products anyone would recommend? Love the idea of a veg/digging patch, there's an edge bit that has nothing in at min that's at a good toddler height. I'm keeping an eye on ebay for a toddler type climbing frame too.

With regards to the concrete steps up and the decking being above the concrete, do your kids just learn to be a bit safer in this sort of environment? I keep thinking I must put in walls on each level as it isn't the lovely flat grass garden of my dreams, but am I just being paranoid?

Your ideas are all great, if wasn't for the pesky snow I'd be out there now!

Could you stretch to these for making raised beds on one or two of the levels?

www.linkabord.com/home.page

They are very easy to put together and long lasting.

People usually put chicken wire on decking to make it non-slip, but I'm not sure that would be very pleasant for a toddler to fall on.

Those big foam squares that fit together (mine were from ELC but I think you can get special outdoor ones from some diy stores) are useful for putting where a toddler might fall e.g. next to steps - I normally leave them out in the summer, but if it's rainy I tend to lift them and prop them behind something to dry out.

get this book it's amazing

here

Hi
I have used this on our dirty, slippy deck and it is really good, lifts off the green algae but I did leave it on for ages and used loads of water (from hosepipe) to swill it off because the algae/mucky water seemed to settle back in the decking ridges and made it seem all your efforts worthless.
PS It was when I found my dd2 (aged 18mths) eating a dead squashed snail off the deck that I decided jeyes was the answer, luckily she was fine.
www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=10287627&ecamp=trf-005&CAWELAID=326897423

I have a very similar dilemma to you effieb, except our yard is on two levels. some years pre ds we did put grass down on the second level, and it was a big mistake, there is no real drainage and it is a soggy boggy mess for 9 months of the year. Dh is very attached to it tho, what is it about men and lawns? I am in the process of persuading him to ditch the grass and deck the top level.

So, don't lament your lack of money for grass, it probably wouldn't work very well anyway. Go with the decking idea, and google the non slip paint, there's plenty out there. hth.