On 01/02/2015 05:24, Beachhutdays wrote:
I would really appreciate some advice. We have a long sloping garden in
North London that slopes down (about 4ft difference in height from top
to bottom of 100ft garden).
The area ends under a huge oak tree just past our back fence. The
ground is very squelchy, being clay soil, and we have an area of approx
20ft by 30ft that we would like some kind of 'floor covering' to make it
easier to walk over and put a trampoline on. It gets tonnes of oak
leaves and twiggy bits falling there too. We also have two dogs.
We can't pave as not allowed to affect tree roots.
Does anyone have any ideas please? Gravel?? Sub base??




To be honest, I'm very uneasy about putting a trampline on such a slope.
I have a similar sloping garden in South London with trees at the
bottom (so very like yours) and I would never put a trampoline on the
sloping bank. It would just 'walk'down hill with every jump. I have
trouble just standing still on parts of my slope. Another issue is that
the platform (jumping) area of the trampolene would fill up with leaf
litter, twigs and acorns. Plus it would just get very grubby.

You could avoid harming the tree by using that end of the garden for
long-term composting and making leaf mould, plus some light storage. It
could easily be screened off and disguised by planting.

It would be much safer and more practical to level part of the garden,
making the trampoline much more stable. You could then set it on lawn,
which would be less painful in the event of a fall. I can understand
you wouldn't want the trampoline right in front of your windows but,
with a 100ft garden, you could 'lose' it behind a screen of roses,
clematis, honeysuckle, jasmine ... and so on.

If you must put it under the oak, then try and level the ground (perhaps
a low sleeper-type retaining wall would be in keeping), cover the
squelchy clay with a permeable weed-suppressing fabric, itself covered
thickly with play bark, so that it both looks attractive and is fairly
soft to fall on. Whether you use bark or gravel to cover the ground, you
will need to keep your dogs from fouling it, although all the local cats
and foxes will take advantage.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay