If not bloody plastic grass then what?

[Jellybean85]

I hate plastic grass both the look and concern for the environment.

But I have 3 kids and we have a swing set, slide and trampoline in the garden. They love playing out and we're blessed with a large garden courtesy of living in an ex council house built when we valued families having space.

The area they play gets bogged down as we live at the bottom of a large hill. We've tried re turfing and adding lots of French drains for drainage.

DH wants to Astro about 1/6th of the garden so kids can play out more than the three weeks it's sunny every year.
I'm not keen but not sure on alternatives for play area? He's looking at having it done by a proper company so it's on the drainage sub base.

Friend had rubber chippings and said although it was soft and safe it was a nightmare that invited all the local cats to treat as a litter tray 😵‍💫

We have the same issue. Including the worries about cats. We have slabs currently and are going to put soft mats down on top of them over the good weather, but it's just not a permanent solution.

I would say don’t go down the rubber crumb route as it’s a known carcinogen. Particularly of concern if there are cuts/grazes and it comes into contact with skin.

Honestly I would do everything possible to avoid fake grass. Can’t you move the play equipment? I’d be tempted to either move it or simply handle the bog with wellines or waders.

Tricky isn't it!!

I feel like mats would need moving in winter too and really they still like to wrap up and play out. Youngest is only 2 so want a solution that lasts about 10 years.

DH is happy to be swayed but is waiting for me to come up with an actual alternative

Live with the mud? Kids love getting dirty. Have outdoor clothes by the door . If the area looks unsightly put some planting in front of it. Honestly the insects and environment will thank you for it

It's in the driest/ best section already

That's been our approach so far but my god it is miserable atm, I think ti seems worse as it has been so so wet! (North west near Manchester)

Boots by the back door?

How about the type of matting that is used in public play areas?
You know the sort of stuff that goes over the grass, but allows the grass to grow through, but would protect the ground underneath, and allow for playing in wetter weather?

They do when they're doing mud kitchen type stuff. When the slide is clagged over with mud and the swing they're less keen 🫠

Sorry should have been clear 'live with mud' has been the game plan for 4/5 years and it's not working any more. Looking for suggestions other than that but do appreciate all input

Ooh now this could work?!

Like the stuff you do drives with?

This could be great as we could have moss/grass grown through but be a bit more sturdy under the playing

What about that rubber mat type stuff they sometimes have at children playgrounds? Admittedly I’ve done no research into whether that’s actually any better in any way that fake grass

You can also choose plants in your garden that are good at soaking up water.

My mum is in the north west and her garden is literally a lake at times.

A thick layer of bark ?

We have this at the school I work at - it’s really effective. We didn’t believe the grass would survive when they put it down but it has.

Yes exactly like that! Not sure what it's called, but sure you could find it easy enough.

I woukd love this as I think it smells so lovely but assumed the same problem would occur with cats? Does anyone have bark in their garden and could advise?

Some great ideas here thanks all!!

When the kids were small I tried bark under the trampoline.
I have cats.
I replaced the bark pretty quickly 😆

How old are you children, if you've been living with the problem for years, you might find it comes to a natural end fairly soon .

I'd use grass grids, as recommended by PP.

Fully understand artificial grass isnt for everyone. We are about 20 years of having it and although i dream of having a full lawn in the future (When i have time) at the moment it just suits our lifestyle.

We have two dogs and a family of four (All over 16). We spent all last weekend getting our garden ready for the rest of the year and can now, at a moments notice go out and enjoy every inch of our garden. If it rains it doesnt get muddy. Within 5 mins of it stopping raining our dogs can be out playing. I can sit and enjoy the view (Artificial grass has made huge progress from the old astro turf days). In 20 years i have never once been unable to walk barefoot on it due to heat. When the sun does come out i can lay a blanket out and fall asleep happily. My dogs will sunbathe on it and follow the sun.

Cleanliness is dealt with due to our long history of ownership. We know that laying the fibre board under matting holds any urine from dogs so we refused to have that fitted. We have cleaning equipment that we use which we can do the entire lawn in about 15 mins which i presume is quicker than i could mow it.

We originally got it for the young kids in the same situation as yourself. We just got absolutely sick of not being able to use the garden properly. After that it just suited us with the kids getting older and more active and the dogs. Now it is allowing us to enjoy planting more and more flower beds and add to the gardne that way. The way i have designed it i could spend a couple of weeks and have it turned into a lovely turf garden. Eventually that is what i will do.

Doesnt suit everyone but we havent regretted it for a moment.

This. You need planting, a big tree or something. Speak to your local garden centre, they might help with what would suit best

I should have planned better for this but they're quite spread out between 14 and 2 so want it to last a while

Grass grids seem a great idea so far and dh will be on board as they are far cheaper and seem that we could install ourselves!

I wouldn't go with bark either. I had in in my garden when I moved it. It was like a huge litter tray for cats!

I second look at planting schemes around.
As quick solution get some willow sticks from a local park, sit them in a jar of water and in a couple of weeks they should have roots. Still them in the ground and they'll grow into willow trees. You can keep them short as you need but they suck up a lot of moisture from soil.

Hedging is good too.

Also moss lawns rather than grass? Also look at different varieties of grass.

We also used stepping stones to access some areas of our mud bath garden. Not so helpful for football.

Grass grids are fabulous. We used them with grass seed for a temporary parking area. After awhile you don’t even see the grids and the grass seems to like the extra support/protection! It stopped our mud issues and we left it in place when the temporary parking area became a walkway. Very easy to install - coupe of hours diy work. Think we got them from B&Q.

I’m not a huge fan of AG but if 5/6 of your garden is still natural I would probably live with it for the practicality.