Garden for disabled mum and doggies!
Happykathygardening
Posts: 5
Hi all, I have an end of row 1970s house in Brecon mid Wales (so wet and windy a lot!).
We bought it for the lovely large side garden (about 50ft by 30ft). It originally had trees and lawn which was lovely but once the autumn kicked in we realised that the drainage was rather poor. In fact we had to close the garden off from the dogs for about 5 months as they got so muddy we couldn't tell who was who
.
The next season we dedicated to digging in French drains, all in all we ended up with a series of gravel paths a few squared off areas for the washing line and one for the dogs paddling pool etc we also left a small lawn area. It was pretty fab however the lawn doesn't drain and has been churned by doggies and now my mum has mobility issues and finds it very awkward on the gravel paths.
So my question is does anyone have any suggestions on how we can make it more accessible for mum, a great area for doggies to run but not so dull as slab the lot?
Posts
Does your Mum walk or is she in a wheelchair? If she walks then you could set paving slabs into the gravel. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=paving+stones+in+gravel&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiGkM69r4zZAhUSFOwKHU-6B40Q_AUICigB&biw=1138&bih=517 Could work for a wheelchair if they aren't too far apart.
Is there a part of your garden you could fence of for the dogs when the lawn is too wet? You could put down a surface of bark on their bit.
You could put down paving slabs for your Mum - probably the best thing - but make it less dull by having a single continuous row to walk on easily and then staggering the edges (that's almost as bad as bark for the dogs
) with the gravel in between and planting low growing things like lavenders, alchemilla, aubretia, marjoram and other scented and 'spiller' plants in amongst the gravel, so the edge looks softer than just a big expanse of slabs. If it's a path worth following - if there's a seat at the end, for example, it'll encourage her to get out there and walk around.
ETA - this sort of thing
Last edited: 04 February 2018 15:05:57
Two things that will help are plants to bind the soil surface and stabilise it, and also planting trees and shrubs that will soak up as much of the rainwater as possible from the soil. You may have heard about the move to plant uplands with forest in order to prevent flooding and the washing away of soil--this is essentially what you have in your garden. Ivy or periwinkle grown as ground cover, or cotoneaster on your banks, for example, might help a lot, though you'll still need some paths.
Raisingirl is that your garden? If so, I'm really jealous, it's gorgeous!
Sadly no, it's a pic from Google
Thanks all, I'm really wishing all the snow and rain away so I can get out and do some planing!