Guest Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Hi I am currently in the process of putting in a bid to the authority to develop my outdoor area, looking at a canopy, fixed chalk boards, wall mounted perspex boards,some raised beds for planting etc but what I am really interested in knowing is that if you had carte blanche to surface your outdoors, what would you have? I currently have concrete slabs. I was thinking of having some grass, maybe some decking but was looking for other ideas. have been put off woodchip by colleagues telling me about everything that might live in there but thought it sounded quite nice! Any ideas?
Guest Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 We just had grass that turned into a big mud puddle in the winter but bought rubber matting that allows the grass to grow through it. It is wonderful, soft and grassy but hard enough not to be muddy and dry instantly after the rain. It would be expensive in a large area however.
Guest Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 I am in exactly the same position as you!! Had a lady from Wicksteed to quote today will wait and watch this post with interest!!
Guest Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Was your rubber matting from a B and Q type place or specialist? Can you remember how much it was?
Guest Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 We bought the mats from a company called grassmats.co.uk and cost us about £300 for an area of 8m by 3m. Quite dear but fabulous, we all love them.
Rea Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 I saw a nursery on a really tight budget so they used shredded tyres. Nice and bouncy under the tree swing
sunnyday Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 Don't go for bark/woodchip - it's a nightmare - we use a public play area with this surface - you never know what's under the surface (obviously made worse because it's open to all) it's horrible when wet (grows mushrooms in the winter!) - constantly needs topping up - gets into sandals - I won't go on ....I'm sure you get the picture Sunnyday
Guest pamgreen Posted June 22, 2009 Posted June 22, 2009 We have the safety surface which is good. However in winter when it freezes it is lethal. Decking is good however it can very slippy and it is a favorite place for rats to hide under!!
Guest Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 We had grass, in our outdoor area, but it got so worn with the constant feet on it and the water that holes began to appear where the grass had worn away. We thought of bark.......... We didn't think about decking.......... we have it in the school quiet area and it is awful when its wet. I know from personal experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the end we tar macced. Its user friendly. Not too expensive. We have plants in tubs etc and we can access grass easily if we want grass. It wouldn't be everyones choice but it has been so much better for us!!!!!!!!!
Inge Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 does depend a lot on local climate and area concerned. we had part bark for a short while as we could not afford anything else.... in our windy garden it ended up all over the place , in shoes children constantly complaining, topped up regularly, never mind what was found in it. grass.. we had part that too ... needs maintaining, in our case in summer it was too hot and dry so we ended up with a sandy dusty area, no grass would grow.. ( near the coast / beach us!) in winter it was soo wet it was a sandy muddy mess and still would not grow.. we reseeded and it looked wonderful in spring, only to be nothing left in a week.. we had a paved area.. this was fine and not an issue we wanted different textrues and variety in the area underfoot and had it worked would have been good. so we had part with the safety surface, and part with a green baise type stuff.. dont know what its called but children love it... we jsut called local firms so have no one to recommend, they did it at cost for us as a charity.. we considered decking, but know it can be slippery and we have rats in the area so had too ensure no where for them to nest... good luck at least you get chance to get funding we had to fund it all ourselves. Inge
Guest Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 http://www.wicksteed.co.uk/playscape-surfacing-c6.html
Guest Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Would you consider gravel? We have this in our garden area and it's great fun for the children to move around and play with. We have some stepping stones in it and these are used for counting games, etc. We also have a tarmac area cordoned off but that is basically just a bit of the car park.
Guest Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Thank you so much for all your thoughts and suggestions. Very much appreciated.
Guest babyjane31 Posted June 29, 2009 Posted June 29, 2009 we are lucky enough to have just moved into a room within a children's centre so they developed our outside space for us (I know their budgets aren't even in the same league as ours!) We have grass, safety surface under play equipment, block paving and tarmac. The safety surface is very slippery when icy, the block paving whilst lovely at the moment Has started to move already and i think will become uneven. The tarmac is perfect ideal for ride ons slightly textured for rubbings and excellent to chalk on, i personally think all gardens should include grass but thats just my opinion.
mary60 Posted July 13, 2009 Posted July 13, 2009 We have the spongy tarmac on most of the outdoor area and I agree when it is icey it is lethal, on the other part we have artificial grass from a company called "nomow", it means they can still play on it even when it is wet.
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