What is the easiest way to convert my garden pond into a sand pit for my
small child to play in rather than drown in?

I was thinking of just puncturing the membrane wait for the water to
dissapear fill with soil or something cheap and drainable up till 10"
deep, boards and then sand ?

//J

Jan Larsen wrote:
What is the easiest way to convert my garden pond into a sand pit for my
small child to play in rather than drown in?

I was thinking of just puncturing the membrane wait for the water to
dissapear fill with soil or something cheap and drainable up till 10"
deep, boards and then sand ?

Can't you make up a frame & mesh to go over the pond?
get the little-un in the swimming pool and teach him/her to swim.

Ours is just turning 5 in a few weeks and can now swim nearly a whole
length. besides which, even if he fell in the pond he'd be able to stand up.

I was thinking of doing the same thing to our pond when we first moved
in but I am very glad I didn't as a pond is so much more educational and
interesting for a growing child than a bl'dy great big sh1t pit for
every cat in the neighbourhood.

Only my opinion of course, and the fact that I spent many hours as a kid
looking into the pond in our garden safely protected from harm by
chicken wire and big sticks.

:¬)


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k...
Jan Larsen wrote:
What is the easiest way to convert my garden pond into a sand pit for my
small child to play in rather than drown in?

I was thinking of just puncturing the membrane wait for the water to
dissapear fill with soil or something cheap and drainable up till 10"
deep, boards and then sand ?

Can't you make up a frame & mesh to go over the pond?
get the little-un in the swimming pool and teach him/her to swim.

Ours is just turning 5 in a few weeks and can now swim nearly a whole
length. besides which, even if he fell in the pond he'd be able to stand
up.

I was thinking of doing the same thing to our pond when we first moved in
but I am very glad I didn't as a pond is so much more educational and
interesting for a growing child than a bl'dy great big sh1t pit for every
cat in the neighbourhood.

Only my opinion of course, and the fact that I spent many hours as a kid
looking into the pond in our garden safely protected from harm by chicken
wire and big sticks.

I echo that too.
We have two ponds in the garden and our children (now 18 and 19) grew up
with them from birth, so to speak. Yes they can be dangerous but then so is
the average kitchen, stairs etc. We spent time with our children and taught
them about the pleasures of a pond, the wildlife and of course the dangers.
Ironically we now have to cover the pond because of a not so friendly Heron.
A child can drown in inches of water as you know; what people do not want is
for that child to drown through ignorance of the dangers of water.

A sand pit is an ideal thing to have though and I am glad we installed one
on the opposite side of the garden.

Gio wrote:

A sand pit is an ideal thing to have though and I am glad we installed one
on the opposite side of the garden.

We had a sandpit for our kids when they were young but eventually gave
up on it because every single bloody time we forgot to put the lid on
when it was unattended (or if the kids lugged it off without us knowing)
every cat in the neigbourhood made a bee-line for it. Of course, they
kindly buried their offerings neatly below the surface, so they wouldn't
be found until the kids started digging.

Didn't really like the kids playing in what was no more than a giant
litter tray... :-( Don't know what the solution is unless you have a
guaranteed cat-free garden - if the OP doesn't, then it's maybe a factor
to consider before taking the plunge.

David

Lobster wrote:
Didn't really like the kids playing in what was no more than a giant
litter tray... :-( Don't know what the solution is unless you have a
guaranteed cat-free garden - if the OP doesn't, then it's maybe a factor
to consider before taking the plunge.

David




Thanks to everyone for their responses

I have considered the cat problem and also the benefit of having the
pond in future, my argument for getting rid of it is that we invest very
little if any time in maintaining the pond, it's just sort of there,
having said that there is not necessarily anything wrong with that I
guess, so I think what will happen is that I will frame it off with
chicken wire and timber and perhaps eventually make a sandpit elsewhere,
with regards to the cats, does that "scent off" gel that they sell in
garden centres and pet supply stores actually work for instance?

//J

On Apr 23, 10:20 am, Jan Larsen wrote:
Lobster wrote:
Didn't really like the kids playing in what was no more than a giant
litter tray... :-( Don't know what the solution is unless you have a
guaranteed cat-free garden - if the OP doesn't, then it's maybe a factor
to consider before taking the plunge.

David

Thanks to everyone for their responses

I have considered the cat problem and also the benefit of having the
pond in future, my argument for getting rid of it is that we invest very
little if any time in maintaining the pond, it's just sort of there,
having said that there is not necessarily anything wrong with that I
guess, so I think what will happen is that I will frame it off with
chicken wire and timber and perhaps eventually make a sandpit elsewhere,
with regards to the cats, does that "scent off" gel that they sell in
garden centres and pet supply stores actually work for instance?

//J

Sand pits are great for children. I would think that a converted
pond would be ideal. they will need to be able to have water in the
sand pit so I woul dmake several large holes in the membrane.

Robert

On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 10:59:50 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

Gio wrote:

A sand pit is an ideal thing to have though and I am glad we installed one
on the opposite side of the garden.

We had a sandpit for our kids when they were young but eventually gave
up on it because every single bloody time we forgot to put the lid on
when it was unattended (or if the kids lugged it off without us knowing)
every cat in the neigbourhood made a bee-line for it. Of course, they
kindly buried their offerings neatly below the surface, so they wouldn't
be found until the kids started digging.

Didn't really like the kids playing in what was no more than a giant
litter tray... :-( Don't know what the solution is unless you have a
guaranteed cat-free garden - if the OP doesn't, then it's maybe a factor
to consider before taking the plunge.

David

A friend had a problem with cats and foxes in his garden (not at the
same time) - he managed to get a "water gun" which swept over an area
when a PIR detected movement.
I don't know from where he bought it.

(I found a Heath Robinson version at http://www.g4nsj.co.uk/cat.shtml
and the super "bear" version at :
http://www.bearsmart.com/bearsBackyard/Deterrents.html)

In message , mike
writes
On Sun, 22 Apr 2007 10:59:50 GMT, Lobster
wrote:

Gio wrote:

A sand pit is an ideal thing to have though and I am glad we installed one
on the opposite side of the garden.

We had a sandpit for our kids when they were young but eventually gave
up on it because every single bloody time we forgot to put the lid on
when it was unattended (or if the kids lugged it off without us knowing)
every cat in the neigbourhood made a bee-line for it. Of course, they
kindly buried their offerings neatly below the surface, so they wouldn't
be found until the kids started digging.

Didn't really like the kids playing in what was no more than a giant
litter tray... :-( Don't know what the solution is unless you have a
guaranteed cat-free garden - if the OP doesn't, then it's maybe a factor
to consider before taking the plunge.

David

A friend had a problem with cats and foxes in his garden (not at the
same time) - he managed to get a "water gun" which swept over an area
when a PIR detected movement.

A lot of people recommend lion dung (from your local zoo)

scares the ****s out of them (literally so to speak) so I've heard

--
geoff