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Garden help!

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littlesez
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Garden help!

Postby littlesez » Sat May 07, 2016 7:04 am

OK so im not doing any veg this year. Its too much work, whenever I spend time on the garden the house goes to pot. Also whenever I create nice beds the cats shit on them.

We have rabbits now who have free reign of the garden and dig everywhere.

Anyone got any ideas of how I can make garden look half decent , its awful :(

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Aeseldyr
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Re: Garden help!

Postby Aeseldyr » Sat May 07, 2016 7:12 am

I would have grass since that only needs cutting and then some Flowerpots with something easy. That looks nice and if a plant dies in the pots you can just get a new one :)

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Re: Garden help!

Postby clothmama » Sat May 07, 2016 7:52 am

I'd actually put a cute fence up and define the area for the rabbits, they will still be happy 'free ranging' but they won't make your entire garden look like a warzone! I'm all for freeranging but not at the expense of a clean garden for the kids! Something like this:
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http://www.twotwentyone.net/diy-garden-fencing/
Once you've done that I'd look at the area you have left and think about it in terms of different rooms, you garden is an extension of your home and I think should be thought of as another living room and sorted as such! How much grass is left, is it OK, worth putting some time into so it is lovely to lie on in the sun for the kids or do you not want the hassle of mowing etc? In which case you could look at other options for the living areas like pavers etc and just leave the grass for the rabbit area. So I'd have an area for the kids with any play equipment, make a water play station against a fence for Leon etc
Simple: Image http://www.inlieuofpreschool.com/homemade-balance-beam
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http://theimaginationtree.com/2015/04/c ... l-pit.html
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http://www.heytherehome.com/outdoor-chalkboard/
or elaborate :wink:
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then an area for you guys to use as a family with either a table to eat out or a sitting set to relax in. We spend all day most days outside, i think it is so good for children to make the most of the good weather and be out but they need to have things to do to keep them happy (as do you!), Rémy is always much happier and sleeps better if we have been out. I'd agree with Marie on some easy flowers but I'd possibly put them in the ground in borders as stuff in pots always needs more care / watering etc (although possibly not an issue in Manchester :hohoho: ).

Maybe take us a photo too so we can think of more ideas!

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littlesez
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Re: Garden help!

Postby littlesez » Sat May 07, 2016 10:29 am

Thanks so much :)

Rabbits dont poop everywhere just in tray and in corners so garden isnt dirty just sad looking

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Re: Garden help!

Postby littlesez » Sat May 07, 2016 10:34 am

I want the grass to stay but would it be a case of just finding grass seed ???

I like mowing so thats fine. Leon has a dinosaur pit which just needs a tidy and a construction area , needs dome fresh sand.

Looking at the picture I think the fence and shed need painting ?

We live in the garden and patio doors are open , weather permitting.

Im gonna make a plan !

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Re: Garden help!

Postby littlesez » Sat May 07, 2016 12:29 pm

Image

Image

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clothmama
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Re: Garden help!

Postby clothmama » Sat May 07, 2016 2:13 pm

Looks like you've got a really good start there :thumbsup: I love you little construction areas for Leon! I think just tidying it all up and setting it up nicely ready for the summer will make a big difference (dont' forget pics when you are done!).

I think painting all or part of the fence would be nice - could help give different zones to the garden. The shed coudl look really cool if you went a bit wild and had fun with some paint, hung some brightly coloured planing boxes with flowers etc - if you did that first you may find you didn't need to do anything to the fence, or you could put up temporary decorations that could be changed out. Lots of fun ideas on line!

I'd maybe do corner of the fence as the kids are with a chalkboard and maybe one of these cool DIY water play activity boards:
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I love this kind of look:
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Re the grass, yes go grab a bag of grass revitaslier (not sure what it is called in English - I've direct translated that from French :hohoho: :hohoho: ) quickly as you need to do it now and probably some fertilser too to perk it up. I'm cross as I put my seed down this week, just when it stopped raining at least every 2 days so I'm not sure it is going to work :doh: :doh: You coudl also look at putting in some pavers (there are some awesome DIY ones that you could have fun making with the kids) as paths to the most used areas.

That is cool if the rabbits don't poop everywhere too!

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Re: Garden help!

Postby littlesez » Sat May 07, 2016 5:35 pm

Last year the kids painted the shed. Izzy did a beach and leon threw paint at it :hohoho: it looked awesome but only used kids paint so it washed off eventually

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confusinglady
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Re: Garden help!

Postby confusinglady » Sat May 07, 2016 6:53 pm

Yep some paint on the fence and maybe some easy to maintain shrubs at intervals on the fence to give a bit of cover/ colour? Something like a catoniasta (sp) or maybe something that climbs like a honey suckle or clematis, jasmine. They won't take much tending and you Give colour and texture.
I reckon you could just buy 3/4 plants ie a catoniasta for a shady area, a honeysuckle for the left side etc . They will go on each panel and will grow over time. In the meantime do you have any bunting or something to put up on the shed to give a splash of colour?

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