social garden area

[petlor]

My daughter has rather a long garden and at the end is a tramponline for here young daughter she would like to make an area for her to sit and relax to watch over the daughter. She would like to put up a small area of decking but i have just finished cutting down two smallish trees wih tree stumps of about 18 inches high left , this would make decking laying a bit of a problem. Please has anyone out there got any ideas as to what else i could do to make this a relaxing area. [ about 9 sq yards ]


dad / grandad

[Two_Sheds]

personally I hate decking: it's slippery when wet, and provides a perfect shelter for rats.

If it were me, I'd put a couple of chairs up (folding ones if you need the space - yours is 3 yards x 3 yards?) and fill the area with flowering plants for scent and colour: go vertical up trellis or canes.

[Irie Jan]

Depending on your budget you could perhaps hire a stump grinder, use this to grind away the tree stumps to a lower level? If you can get a nice flat surface on the stumps and depending on its diamiter you can screw or glue pots to the stumps and put some trailing flowers in the pots. is just a thought! like Two Sheds said, surround the area with colour and nice smelling flowers and use a folding chair,

[Flummery]

As long as you make a solid edging to keep it in and lay it on landscape fabric, I find gravel quite comforting to the eye and not so harsh as many 'hard landscaping' solutions. It has the extra advantage that you can cut through the fabric here and there to make planting pockets for scented or colourful plants. Chairs balance on it ok too.

[Glutton4...]

You could hide the stumps by placing a bench over them. Alternatively, weave an arch-covered seat from Willow, it roots really easily when planted, and can be woven to any shape you like whilst it is young and flexible. You can grow scented climbers over it too.

I too hate decking, so you could consider a sturdy bark mulch over a weed-supressing membrane, and decorate with tubs and planters, and some trellis to create more seclusion.

Good luck!

[Marthaclematis]

With regards to the trampoline - could you dig a pit so that the trampoline is flat with the surface of the garden..? So much easier to spend time with a child when its bouncing 'in front' of you rather than starting at a point of 3 foot in the air.

[petlor]

Thanks for all your comments and advice. I am sure I will finish up with the job