gardening question

[Naomi]

We have a really huge tree in our backyard. The ground around the bottom of it doesn't have much (any) grass - at a guess because the tree is using all the nutrients in the soil. The previous owners have kind of landscaped it by putting an edge of brickwork at the edge of the dirt area, and then the lawn starts.

So around the base of the tree is an area of dirt, straggling grass, a LOT of weeds at the moment after this on and off rain. There are a couple of straggly shrub things. Is there something I can do to the dirt area to make it look neat? That wouldn't require a huge amount of maintenance?

(The tree has a tree house in it, so ideally it needs to be kid friendly too).

[Mad Old Cow]

not sure Naomi but i was thinking maybe bark or a gravel bed of some kind or i would probably ask at the nursery

[mummyof3babes]

oh a tree house, how neat, I'd love one of those.

I'd probably go with bark flakes or pebbles but as Di said, see your nursery about it. I'm only a 'beginner' gardener and don't really know of the options out there, but I do know if you go with pebbles make them the nice little smooth ones. I have a pebbled area and they are bigger rough ones, it hurts to walk in the area, I'm going to get rid of them all and replace with soft bark flakes.:yes:

[Heather]

Yes, bark chips would do but if you wanted something to grow that was fairly kid friendly, you could try Dichondra (http://www.greengold.com.au/greengold/CARENOTES/CARENOTES/dichondra.htm) or any other shade tolerant creeper.

[Stormy]

I would go for wood bark....if young Hugo goes for a tumble out of the tree house, the wood bark will hurt a lot less than gravel or pebbles :yes: And he won't be tracking it through the house either ;)

[Cherie]

I would ask my nurseryman Naomi. I put dirt and a garden around a tree once and ringbarked it. I was upset as it was a beautiful tree.

[Patricia]

Yes bark is much more kid friendly and stray cats don't usually like to pee in it (because of the smell) like they do with pebbles..I wonder what it is that attracts cats to pebbles to pee? :dk:

[Naomi]

Will the weeds still grow through the bark?

I think bark does sound like the best option, I will go to a nursery and see what they suggest. I did think about river stones but I *know* they would all end up inside the house. In our last house we had river stones in the front area and Hugo could never walk past without collecting a handful of them. I spent half my life collecting them up and returning them to the garden LOL

..if young Hugo goes for a tumble out of the tree house,
I have my fingers in my ears, saying LALALALALALA - don't even want to think about this! :hehe: It's only been recently that he's been interested in climbing up the ladder to the treehouse and I hold my breath every time he tries it.

[Mad Old Cow]

you would have to put something under the bark to stop the weeds from comming through but the nursery people will tell you what to use

[Stormy]

Naomi, what we did in our garden beds was poison the weeds after we had ripped most of them out, then lay down black weed matting. Unfortunately the really determined weeds still make their way through but significantly less of them :yes:

[jenr]

For safety bark chips or mulch would probably be better but just check with the nursery as it can attract white ants!

[Supa]

can you put beach sand in there so Hugo & Sophia (when old enough) have tree house & sand pit plus its still soft landing

[Naomi]

I think that would be an open invitation to all the neighbourhood cats to use it as a litter tray ... not something I want to encourage

[Di Nana]

what about some of that false grass if it is a small area, would love to see a pic of tree house, my son had one thirty feet up a macracapa tree, and slept in it for two years before he left home :hehe:I could never quite make it to the top to see what was up there , he had the rungs in the ladder to far apart:P

[Supa]

you could cover it with shadecloth weighed down so the cats couldnt use it. Like they do at daycarre

[Naomi]

Thanks for all the suggestions. There is also a fishpond in the area that I want to get rid of - it was here when we bought, it doesn't have fish in it but lately has a bit of stagnant water after all the rain so it's a breeding ground for mozzies as well as being a safety issue with the children (11 children have drowned in the last fortnight :( makes me feel very aware of having it there, even though it has a cover on it). So I've decided to try and dig it out this week since the soil should be fairly soft from all the rain lately, then we'll order some dirt to fill in the hole as well as bark chips to put down on the whole area.

you could cover it with shadecloth weighed down so the cats couldnt use it. Like they do at daycarre
Thanks Tina - unfortunately it's a weird/irregular shape so it would probably be a bit difficult to fit the shade cloth, Hopefully the bark will be soft enough.

[lucyloo]

We have a sand and soil yard Naomi. You need to kill off all the weeds first, and then lay weedmat down. If you put whatever you choose over the top, as in pine bark, woodchip or mulch, you should put it at least 4 inches (100ml) thick, the weeds shouldn't come through, as it is too thick, and no sunlight gets through. Other than that, you can buy grass seed that will grow in the shade. So if you want grass, it can be done, but it will take a while to seed, and grow.:)

[atokadawn]

If you want to save alittle money, use news papers or shopping/trash bags down first. They will not let the weeds thru.