The kids trashed my lawn...

Being asked to write about grass alternatives is easy for me because it's something my partner and I have discussed at length. My lawn is completely trashed. I mean seriously wrecked. For the last year all the local children have come and played in our garden and used it as a park, and the lawn proves it. I really am not complaining. We have a big garden and it would be a shame to see it wasted, but it's had 10 year's worth of normal family wear and tear in the last 12 months alone... and there isn't a lot of lawn left...

I live in the swampland of the North. My local area is so peaty that my tap water has sediment. Seriously. We made the mistake of buying a white shower curtain once. After a week it looked like someone had tried to colour it in with a brown felt tip. The peat in our soil holds tons of water and protects us from floods when there is heavy rain, but it means the grass is full of springy moss and the lawn is generally too wet to sit on. In a move of unlikely genius we put the swing and the trampoline over the wettest bits. It's definitely hidden it helped...

Much more help than putting something over it to hide it, is the troop of children charging about shouting, screeching, laughing and falling out. They may have small feet, but the volume of steps is huge and they've redistributed the moisture nicely. The downside being that they've also stripped the grass.

The gorgeous weather we are having at the moment has meant children have played here every day and our bald patches are getting bigger and bigger. This is fine while the sun shines, but it's going to be a lot less pretty when the usual persistent drizzle returns. Think Glastonbury 2005.

We've been talking about what we can do and being a family of eco-hippies the dream surface would be recycled rubber just like your local park. Sadly for us though, it's maybe a touch beyond our budget...

We could bark the entire garden. We've got about 20 trees worth of wood sitting there and I can hire a chipper for less than £100 a day. It's not exactly pleasant to walk on barefoot though. I think I'd be sweeping it out of the house constantly. My youngest would probably not be able to resist eating it throwing it. Forget that one...

Lots of people nowadays are replacing their natural grass with artificial grass. This is a much more affordable route than the rubber and still really hardwearing. Older types were a bit scratchy but modern astro turf is lush and almost like an outdoor carpet. It would solve the moss, the peat and the bald spots in one. It's hard to see what's not to like.

Of course our last option is to throw out all the kids and make them cross the big road to the park, or just play elsewhere.... It's not really me though. I'll be honest, I love to see and hear them playing. I don't hold it against them that they've trashed my lawn. I even let them borrow my Nerf blasters sometimes - no ammo though, I'm fed up of trying to find it all in the hedge...

Whatever we choose to do about our grass, the good news is that at least I'll always have a large circle of somewhat healthy lawn. Thank goodness for trampolines...