Need ground cover ideas for a mud kitche...

meli1

Hi everyone! I have been working on a mud kitchen space for my toddler (pictures of the progress below). There is a sandpit under the tarp which has some gravel on the base and a weed mat inbetween to separate the sand and prevent too much sand being lost. However the ground is not perfectly flat (this is the corner of the garden that drains rainwater) so some of rocks have come out and some sand also trickles out. This isn't a problem really, I am thinking of adding a ground cover such as gravel to the entire space around the sandpit and under the mud kitchens. My thoughts are to have the gravel help with drainage, as well as softening the ground and creating a base for all the mud kitchen "mess". As you can see, I have a temporary "border" using composite tiles (just to keep some sand in that space for now, but really it doesn't do much right now!). I'd like a more permanent border to keep the gravel in that mud kitchen space. something that still allows rainwater to drain towards the back corner but is solid enough that it won't move and creates a strong enough border to contain the gravel for my "gravel pit mud kitchen space".

I am open to different material for the ground cover. However thought playground gravel would be the "softest", help with drainage, and be less messy compared to sand. I also prefer a natural kind of material and would like to avoid any sort of rubber.

I hope that all make sense! Thanks in advance!

sort of before:

current space:

MitchellMc

Hi @meli1,

What sort of "gravel" were you considering? The gravel I think of wouldn't be particularly soft underfoot. What about laying a sand bed and the synthetic turf over the top? I know you were after a natural product, but I've been particularly impressed with it when installed next to my children's sand pit and play area. It's definitely soft underfoot, the sand beneath will help with drainage and it's come a long way aesthetically-wise and there are several varieties that look almost real.

In order to retain gravel in the area, you would need a physical boundary that rises to at least the height of the gravel layer. Even then, gravel tends to get kicked out. You could fix 90mm Merbau decking vertically at the border, fixing it down to the pavers with angle brackets.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell