It won't seem 5 minutes before she's wanting a cool seating area behind a bamboo screen where she can hang out with her pals and play music that makes you feel old
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
When i seen the thread title "child proofing garden" it caught my eye as i thought it was about protecting your garden FROM children, the children in my life do more damage than rabbits slugs and greenfly put together, i have even gone to the extent of strategically planting thorny shrubs in places to keep them out, bad grampa
Haha child is the priority at the moment although I'm sure that'll change in the not too distant future.
We have weeded, lais weed fabric and bark in the grassy L shape and square to the right and given it a general tidy at the weekend. Pictures to follow.
Next step is paint fence then consider lifting slabs at near bottom and relay them flat, then fix then two steps slabs to less dangerous stairs of some sort.
We have purchased 3x pack of foam anti fatigue squares mats from Costco that we can lay temporarily during the summer.
I have 2 kids under 4, more if you include all the kids they attract over! Keeping them safe inside the back garden is the most important point - so I have gates on both sides and high fences around. I know I can safely keep them in the back garden without worrying that they are around the front and know exactly where they are.
I also have a patio with slabs that need relayed as frosts and rains has caused them to lift and fall. It is a job to lift, reapply sand and mortar, but it is the cheapest and safest thing to do as I want to keep the slabs. It is a bore and heavy work but hopefully something I only need to do once a few years.
B&Q etc sell cheap rubber mats that you can use but unless you have a slide or swing then I do not think you really need them. A flat play area is more useful and gives them somewhere to play, so flattening the patio is the way to go. Ideally a lawn is good to run around on and fall on but I have had no issues with them playing on the uneven slabs - good for scooters and the like. In summer you can use cheap playmats for somewhere to play on and keep them off cool or damp slabs.
Hi roscoe, my 2 are 3 and 6 months, when we moved. Here our back garden was all paved except for a large triangular bed that was sloping, I was pregnant so couldn't do the hard work but got all paving lifted, re used bricks for path, patio and small area by back door and laid lawn, onky yesterday we eerie watching 3 year old run round and round lawn laughing and commented we did best thing, it cost around £600,similar size plot to you, we got a local gardener, but if you and any willing volunteers could do it ,or a local odd job/handyman could be a lot less, I know it's a bit high maintenance to reseed like we had to after wet winter and no sun, and mow, but doesn't t take lying and kids love grass!
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It won't seem 5 minutes before she's wanting a cool seating area behind a bamboo screen where she can hang out with her pals and play music that makes you feel old
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
When i seen the thread title "child proofing garden" it caught my eye as i thought it was about protecting your garden FROM children,
the children in my life do more damage than rabbits slugs and greenfly put together, i have even gone to the extent of strategically planting thorny shrubs in places to keep them out, bad grampa 
We have weeded, lais weed fabric and bark in the grassy L shape and square to the right and given it a general tidy at the weekend. Pictures to follow.
Next step is paint fence then consider lifting slabs at near bottom and relay them flat, then fix then two steps slabs to less dangerous stairs of some sort.
We have purchased 3x pack of foam anti fatigue squares mats from Costco that we can lay temporarily during the summer.
No idea how much it costs, but this might be a possible solution http://www.horsematshop.co.uk/?gclid=CjkKEQjwwbCcBRCxvJn9-N6dorwBEiQAVriOimIYN4s5Omo8zLLjGDqDRRyLOfLxmouOKqsp0iS2JgPw_wcB
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I have 2 kids under 4, more if you include all the kids they attract over! Keeping them safe inside the back garden is the most important point - so I have gates on both sides and high fences around. I know I can safely keep them in the back garden without worrying that they are around the front and know exactly where they are.
I also have a patio with slabs that need relayed as frosts and rains has caused them to lift and fall. It is a job to lift, reapply sand and mortar, but it is the cheapest and safest thing to do as I want to keep the slabs. It is a bore and heavy work but hopefully something I only need to do once a few years.
B&Q etc sell cheap rubber mats that you can use but unless you have a slide or swing then I do not think you really need them. A flat play area is more useful and gives them somewhere to play, so flattening the patio is the way to go. Ideally a lawn is good to run around on and fall on but I have had no issues with them playing on the uneven slabs - good for scooters and the like. In summer you can use cheap playmats for somewhere to play on and keep them off cool or damp slabs.
Hi roscoe, my 2 are 3 and 6 months, when we moved. Here our back garden was all paved except for a large triangular bed that was sloping, I was pregnant so couldn't do the hard work but got all paving lifted, re used bricks for path, patio and small area by back door and laid lawn, onky yesterday we eerie watching 3 year old run round and round lawn laughing and commented we did best thing, it cost around £600,similar size plot to you, we got a local gardener, but if you and any willing volunteers could do it ,or a local odd job/handyman could be a lot less, I know it's a bit high maintenance to reseed like we had to after wet winter and no sun, and mow, but doesn't t take lying and kids love grass!
Please excuse typos and strange words, iPAD has mind of own
Picture shows the small progress made.
Thanks for the reply guys. As mentioned above we do have a temporary fix in terms of rubber mats that will held in the short term.
I think drainage is an issue with this garden.
Scottish weather and poor drainage appears to lead to quite dark and eventually mossy slabs requiring regular pressure wash treatment.