Help with muddy garden due to swing

dulpit

Hey all,

Our front garden is just a small area of grass. We have a swing out there for our small fella since the summer and he loves it, but it's not making an awful lot of mud. He is non-verbal (ASD/ID), so we can't explain to him to take off shoes when he comes in, so it's becoming very difficult to keep things clean in the house.

Directly around the swing we have rubber mats (sort of like this: https://www.vikingdirect.ie/en/office-depot-outdoor-entrance-mat-honeycomb-800-x-600-mm-black-p-1012633?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=surface_google&cm_mmc=Google-_-PLA_GEN_GOOGLE-SHOPPING_furniture_GOSC-_-furniture-_-1012633&gclid=Cj0KCQjwit_8BRCoARIsAIx3Rj7MsQViyx4UOgAvBwv2BSO0zLSEykst-uEyuM7Rln_c_HUq5Xo0E9EaArL8EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds) which helped to begin with, but now the area of mud has spread beyond the mats, and the path he takes back to house is the same. Any ideas of something we could put down that might help reduce the mud or reduce the likelihood of him getting muddy?

We rent the house and don't plan on doing any major work, and we don't necessarily care if the grass lives or not if we have to cover it with something, but we're just not sure what would work in this scenario.

Appreciate any pointers.

aw

2 pieces of additional information will help recommendations.

1. Have you an approximate budget, or a max budget?
2. How big is the area you need to cover?

Also, is this to be a long term solution or just for the next few months?

My initial thought was to buy and roll out artificial turf, but this could be costly.
You would need to put some sand under it.
https://www.woodies.ie/lawn-garden/garden-landscaping-decor/artificial-grass-topiary

Another suggestion is buy a couple of tonnes of gravel and spread it.

dulpit

Garden is roughly (very roughly) 3.5m x 5m. We could make the actual area to cover smaller though by adding borders/etc.

We were thinking of the artificial grass route. Budget would be a couple of hundred euro max, but we could DIY it (my which I likely mean my brother-in-law will do it for us).

Does anyone have experience of replacing grass with artificial?

ellee

If you are renting I think it would be a good idea to consult with the landlord before putting down gravel or artificial grass. You don't want him docking your deposit to replace the turf.

Might be no harm to discuss the issue with him anyway. Essentially the poor drainage is leading to a mud issue. He might be happy to invest a bit to protect the garden and the house from mud damage. Otherwise, he might just approve your own plan.