am i crazy to plan to try and turn part of my garden into the seaside? and have a big sandpit and paddling pool

[lionbeast]

hi,we are landscaping our garden in time for the summer and i was thinking of turning part of our garden into a garden seaside, with a sandpit big enough for me and dd dh to get in a build sandcastles etc and a paddling pool for dd.

although im a bit of a clean freak in the house, but ive chilled abit since having dd 8 months.
would the sand get everywhere in the house? i was thinking of having a watering can near the door so feet can be wasked before re-entering the house and maybe a mat just inside and outside the patio doors.

do sandpits really mean, outrageous mess all over your house?

Depends how do you feel about cat shit?

Seriously I wouldn't worry about the sand in the house, more the poo in the mouth of your children. Unless it's covered you are going to become moggy central.

I like cats and own two but I do think you need to bear it in mind.

if you have a sandpit make sure you get a cover or it will soon turn from sand pit to neighbourhood cat toilet.

the sand from mine doesn't get in the house but it is 200 feet away at the end of the garden...

You will need a big lid for your big sandpit or foxes and all the neighbourhood cats will poo in it.

an outside tap would be better than a watering can

also consider siting it a fair way down the garden so the sand has a chance to fall off before you get to the door

Sounds fba but only if you cover it so now worms get in it or cat shit

Have to say sounds a great idea, but would so worry about cat mess!

well i was planning on having a proper cover on it
and we have an outdoor tap, and luckily its quite a large south facing garden

plus our cats the hardest in the neighbour hood lol the fat old bastard, he doesnt let other cats come near bless him, although i would definatly cover it,

do you guys have any other ideas, what i can do with this garden

Yeah, but you'd be amazed how much shit one cat can produce lionbeast

One thing I have seen which makes a difference is that you can get a mesh type grid from garden centres and lay it between the sand and the house - that way it traps the sand as your kids scamper between areas.

However, bear in mind flooding as well, if your garden is at all prone to flooding your sandpit will become contaminated very quickly (by fetid water which will bugger the sand).

So even with a lid you need to look at siting very carefully.

fair point chocolate, the size of that fat greedy bastard,

do you think one of think a sand pit on a wooden or plastic box with a lid would be best to avoid flooding?

Ideally you'd build it up on a platform. But yes a lid is definitely required. The other thing you might want to do is build in a slope so if it does get wet the water runs off. Or install a downward sloping pipe in the base so any water that goes in gravitates down and out.

You can of course build a wooden frame and use a pond liner with a decent tarp over the top (you can affix it with rope and put loops on the frame to secure it quickly) ie when it starts to rain and the cats turn up looking constipated while the kids complain mercilously and demand your attention

the wooden frame sounds good as then we can make it as big as we want, or get dad to make it for his little gd

im planning out the garden, to make it a childrens paradise.....well thats my aim

do any of
you have any ideas how i can make it look good? i was thinking of also putting up some kind of net on the fence with starfish and shells etc on.
and maybe a palm tree with a parrott.

how else could i seaside theme this bit of the garden?

I'd do a beach hut triompe d'oeil (spelling appalling but I'm sure you know what I mean). Paint the fence a nice blue colour.

Net isn't great - trees shed and it gets coated quickly with crap.

If you wanted to get really clever about it you could always make a mini beach hut with the sandpit on the roof (you need steps or a slope to make it accessible obviously) (on the roof sorts out drainage and easier to cover) with the 'sea' next to it in a recessed pool.

hi chocolate,mmm feling peckish mind if i take a bite.
lol
who ate my chocolate,lionbeast more like

sorry ive got no idea what a triompe d'oeil is am feeling a bit dim today.

mini beach hut is a great idea.

just had a thught maybe a gull would be more approritate as a parfrot is kinda tropical for england lol

my other thoughts are bunting,deckchairs one of those lifsaver rings lol

dh said cant we just get a hottub,i think he gets fed up with my mad things

we are going to ikea tomorrow so we may pick up a few ideas there,ive also asked dh if we can go to the seaside soon xxx

Trick of the eye - basically you paint a three dimensional scene so for example you could draw 3D beach huts along the fence.

A gull may not work out. Local neighbourhood birds will take umbridge and do a crapathon (to match the cat crapathon in the sandpit)

It may be less hassle to move to Brighton though the way you are talking, your DH must be very nervous by now

wow thats a great idea, im pretty good at painting, i could definatly do that!. lol about the gull, imagine how it would look perched in our cherry tree.

wonder what the local birds would like to a parrott, oh shes pretty lol

poor old dh, he knows there is no point reasoning with me anymore.

i thought of another idea now outdoor shower, mmmm i think i may have to go more tropical

Ooh if you have trees you can get an ecoshower -basically a big black rubber bag you fill with water and put in the tree and it heats up during the day and you can run under it - they are actually pretty good.

ohhh chocolate, that sounds lovely
ill have a look for that on the net.
when we where on our honeymoon, we went to dubai and then to the maldives, when we where in the maldives, we had half the time in a beach villa [the other half in a watervilla,as we upgraded there as its loads cheaper]the beach villa had a wonderful outdoor garden bathroom with an outdoor shower and a massive "bathing pavillion" otherwise know as massive fancy bath tub.lol
it was lovely though with allsorts of tropical plants,it was lovely having a shower outide next to a banana tree.

ahhhhh lionbeast drifts off into a dream ......

we are off are when we are all ready, ill let you know if we find anything good. xxx

showerlink

tublink

these aren't our pics by the way, i just nicked them off the net xxxxx

sounds great

I saw a prog or read a mag artical where somebody did just this and it was fab.

They had 1/2 an old rowing boat which looked brilliant. There is a fixed rowing boat at our local zoo and my lot adore it. They play pirates and just pretend they're rowing on the sea. No idea where they got it from.

I think they also painted their shed stripey like a seaside hut, had deckchairs, loads of driftwood and seagrasses planted everywhere. Seem to remember there were old railway sleepers and bits of rope around too.

There is a book called Children's Gardens or something, might have some more ideas.

Very jealous, wish my garden was big enough