Q&A: Garden Safety

August 2003

Q1 I have a pond that has matured well over the last 15 or so years. Now I also have grandchildren who have not yet matured. How do I ensure that the pond area is safe for them without destroying it?

Both the pond and the grandchildren are to be cherished. You either need to fence off the pond so that the children cannot get into it or you need to cover it. To my mind, the cover seems to be the best option. I would cover the pond with a steel reinforcing mesh. This may be robust enough for the job. However, you may need to add a few supports across the pond. I cannot advise you on this as I do not know the size of the pond. The benefit of the mesh is that the pond is not adversely affected and both you and your grandchildren can still enjoy it.

Q2 I am going to make a sandpit for my children. What type of sand should I use and how do I keep the sand in one place?

The choice of sand is simple - you can buy sandpit sand from FOCUS. Do not use builders' sand of any type - it is not clean enough. You can buy plastic sandpits that have a lid on them, one of these would be ideal and FOCUS has a shell sand pit for only ?13. Failing that, you could use 100mm x 25mm timber set into the ground. I would round off the top edges of the timber and smooth off any areas that a child may come into contact with. Screw the ends of the timber together to form a square or rectangle and set it into a hole dug out of the lawn where the pit needs to be. Put a weed suppressant membrane (available at FOCUS) in the base of the pit and then pour the sand on top of this. The membrane will allow the water out of the pit and stop weeds growing up through the sand. You will need some form of lid to cover the sand to keep out rain and the local cats. A piece of exterior grade plywood would be ideal for this. It could be hinged on one side of the sandpit but it may be easier to lift it off when the children want to play in the pit.

Q3 I have a very cracked and uneven concrete path in the garden. Can I lay paving slabs on top of it or do I need to dig it up?

Uneven concrete paths are very dangerous - it is very easy to trip over the raised areas so you are right to want to cover it. I'm a great believer in taking up the old and starting from scratch but this can be very hard work.

The problem of laying slabs on top of the path is that you will raise the level of the path by 50mm (2 inches) or more. If you do not see this as a problem then there is no difficulty in laying slabs on top of the old path. Use a spirit level to find the highest point of the path and start levelling the slabs from here. Mix up sand and cement to a ratio of about 5 sand to 1 cement and lay each slab onto 5 dabs of this mix. If the path is very uneven it may be better to level it with concrete before you start laying the slabs.

You could lay timber decking over the damaged path. This could be supported on either side of the path by timber and so would make the path wider but it would raise the level of the path by about only 36mm (1.5 inches).

Q4 I would like to encourage my children to tend their own garden. Can you recommend good plants to grow and suggest any dangerous ones that I should avoid?

I have a long list of dangerous plants, contact me via the Focus web site (focusdiy.co.uk) if you need it. However, plant suppliers will indicate on the label if the plant is dangerous. Children like plants that mature fast but I believe you should encourage patience by planting slower germinating ones as well. Try edible plants like lettuce and radish or cress that germinates very rapidly. You could get the children to write their initials in seeds and see what happens.

I have seen runner beans grown over a trellis to form a den. They are very fast growing and the children could pick them for dinner. I have only mentioned annuals so far. These require less care - just sow, water and watch.

If you encourage the children to grown climbers like clematis they could be shown how to prune them and care for them. They are fast growing and need to be planted, watered, trained and pruned. You could encourage the clematis to grow over their playhouse or to form a bower for the children.

Q5 I want to lay a few paving slabs in the lawn in the shape of a hop scotch game. How should I go about this?

This is straightforward. Lay the slabs where you want them and make sure they are in the correct place. Use a spade to cut into the grass around each slab in turn. Lift the slab and, using a spade, remove the turf to a depth of about 55 to 75mm (2.5 to 3 inches). Lay some sand in the base of the hole and place the slab back into its new home. Do this with the rest of the slabs. Now check that each slab is a little 6 to 12mm ( ? to ? inches) below the level of the grass. If it is not, lift the slab and adjust the height by adding or removing sand. Gently compact the slab into place by placing a block of wood onto the slab and hitting it with a large hammer.

The slabs should now be low enough to run the mower over them when cutting the grass.