Ladies i was wondering weither i could ask your advice on something , When we moved into our house the garden was a blank canvas and there is a strip that we have tried to grass seed but it hasnt aken very well because there's not enough sunlight due to a big ok tree behind the back of us hence why its just a lovely muddy mess still. So ive tried to think what would be best to put down instead i need something that will be fairly child friendly as the kids love to play outside in the garden so has anyone fot any suggestions at all? Ive tried racking my barins but as of yet come up with nothing

play bark? you can get like rubber matting stuff to go under neath it

We've thought about that one jo is it like the normal bark you can get?

You can get special play bark B&Q online don't seem to have it but you could google i suppose

They do have these though http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/na...isSearch=false
But guess it depends on how many you need etc...
Loads of options out there hun x

Thanks for that jo its just a pain really because they can never play out there without getting really dirty fromt he mud

Hope you find somehing you like
Ebay may be a good place for the mats, might get a bundle cheap then you could always flag over in a couple of years

Another alternitive would be some sort of low growing ground cover. They have a special mossy kind that is very hardy and you can walk on it without killing it. You wont ever have to cut it or anything and some types have cute little blue flowers on them. Should be perfect for shade and will keep the mud away

Did you use grass seeds or did you turf it?

I always thought turf would take anywhere. My garden only gets the sun at the end of the day but the grass keeps growing!

You could also try planting Fescue (if you have it available in UK) is hardy with shade....But you might try laying down actual Sod.