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Removing rocky boarder

Hello, we're moving house in a few weeks and just went to inspect the garden. It's quite overgrown and needs clearing of junk which I'm confident I'll be able to tackle.

However I noticed there are a lot of sharp rocky borders and with a just toddling baby who loves the outdoors I would like to remove it.

I was thinking sledgehammer?! Do you think this will do the job or am I at risk of damaging the paving? I could remove that too, I don't mind a lawn with no path or paving.

Alternativley are there any suggestions for baby proofing it, maybe covering it and smoothing it over with concrete?

Any advise would be much appreciated.

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Posts

  • PalaisglidePalaisglide Posts: 3,414

    Faye, those rocks look as if they would fall off, a hammer and possibly a crow bar would shift them without damage to the paves. The point being the paves could also cause problems for a toddler, they tend to fall about a bit. With my grandchildren we bought flexible rubber mats that interlocked, they took minutes to lay down when they arrived and were stored in the garage at other times. If you look on line for childrens play area's you may get some idea's. Your problem could be getting rid of the rocks when you knock the wall down.

    Frank.

  • I think the simplest solution would be to put something in front of the rocky edge until the toddler is older. 

    There's a kind of border-edging which is made of quite short lengths of round wooden posts (about 8" high) and it might be possible to fix this in place relatively easily.  This stuff comes in rolls - don't know how long they can be.

    The solution could be achieved by attaching some very strong wire to the edging, at intervals, fastening this wire to some short & strong thin pieces of planking and knocking that into the ground above and behind the rocky edge.  Backfill the gaps with compost/soil and let things grown down over the newly-fixed (temporary) edge.

    Less exhausting than hammer & chisel, and probably no lasting damage done.  Could be removed in future and the edge easily restored to its former state if required.

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,884

    Concrete might prove to be an unforgiving surface for a small person so I think your idea of the lawn is better. First task - as you say - is to clear out all of the junk. Once that has gone you can then see better what needs to be cleared. If you can use a crowbar or similar to loosen the rocks to begin with then they can be removed and stacked in an out of the way spot as they are quite expensive - and desired by gardeners who are building rockeries - and you may find a buyer for them. Then you can begin on the concrete and remove that. Its difficult to estimate the space you have available from your pictures as we are only seeing a tiny fraction. If its tiny then a lawn is perhaps not the best choice. Perhaps you could post again with some dimensions?

    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • It looks to me as though there could then be a problem getting the levels even - the ground beneath the rocky bits looks lower.

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,064

    I agree with Frank and HCF.  The toddling phase doesn't last long so temporary measures will be fine.  Better to concentrate time and energy on clearing rubbish and then making the garden more child friendly and attractive to play in when they can and will do so with less supervision than a toddler needs..

    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,139

    I agree, don't get rid of it - put some sort of padding in place for a few months.  Before long that little wall will have dolls tea sets on it, or toy racing cars lined up, or something similar - it'll be a lovely spot to play 


    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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