The tire hill slide is perfect. The grass I planted on it is filling in well and I am very happy with the results. Obviously the grass on this is a month old and I need to fill in lots of patches before it looks as lush as I want it to be.
However, I thought I would share a few pictures of it.
This is a view of the steps up to the top of the slide.
Front of the slide. I’m not including pics of the terraced area because it needs a bit of work still and I’m not happy with it. I’ve planted spreading plants there and I hope they take over as right now it is more dirt than grass on that side.
The hill slide looks like a jewel when surrounded by nothing but dirt. Of course, we did plant clover everywhere so soon this will all look lush and green! The clover planting will come in a later post.
Our little playground did not survive the winter well. The swing set is badly damaged and the slide supports broke completely off. My children LOVE sliding and I heard a lot of “Fix it Mommy!” from my oldest. I also had this giant pile of tires that was not going to be able to remain in the playground because of black widow problems. So I killed 2 birds with one stone and used the tires as the structural support for a new hill slide.
Tires BeforeSlide BeforeAfter
As my husband used the tractor to cover the tires in dirt I stripped the slide of any remaining screws and supports and hunted down some tools. Armed with a variety of shovels (my helpers always require their own shovels!) and a rake we went to work grading the hill and installing the slide.
Son was energetic in his digging but daughter was much too distracted with the chickens scratching around near the fence. I think I found the right angle for the slide.
Hmmmm. No. I think it is much too high.
Better! Though I’m sure the poor sea creatures didn’t like their trip down the slide.
Now off to hunt for rocks to be used as the steps. I loaded Daughter into the wagon and Son energetically hopped onto his tricycle.
Success. I was able to grab quite a few rocks of unknown origin, the one Daughter is sitting on was the largest I could carry.
I rocked the stairs up but I just don’t like it. That large piece of cement rip rap is not working for me. What to do….
That’s the ticket. Gravel on the top of the hill and the large cement rip rap has become a designated art piece. The kids loved painting it! While they were busy painting I was busy terracing the back side of the hill. I don’t want a rain storm to cause massive erosion. Now I have perfect planting terraces.
I spent some time thinking about what I wanted to plant here. Grass, of course. But I want plants that are going to repel bugs and rodents as well. So I believe I have settled on a few varieties of mint, lemongrass, feverfew, lavendar and safflower. We shall see how they grow!
