Baby pool on top of sod?
Question:I just purchased an Inflatable baby pool for my daughter and placed in on our 1month old freshly mowed sod. Only 50% of my lawn received sun light and I placed the drained pool on the area that doesn't receive the sun light. Is this okay or do I have to deflate my pool? Is it ok to place pesticides (organic or otherwise) back there?
Answers:
In the shady area, the grass may not grow well anyway, so make that dedicated pool area. Don't drain or deflate, just leave the pool there.
Later in the season or early next spring, move the pool aside and lay down some pavers -the kind that are about 16" on a side and weigh about 30-40 lbs each. Cover the dead circle of grass, which serves as a target for where the stones should go. If the area has been sodded, it should be fairly smooth, so the stones will butt together nicely.
Make a frame around it with landscape timbers (the ones that are flat on top and bottom and rounded on either side). Drill holes in the timbers and drive rebar through them to secure them into the ground. Nail or screw the ends to one another. Now everything is neat and will stary together. Apply some vegetation killer in the joints between the pavers, and sweep sand over the whole thing as a grout. Nice. And cheap. When your daughter grows up, the area may be used as a sort of meditation spot, place for bird bath, or the stones can be removed and you can plant some shade loving specimens there.
As to pesticides, avoid them if at all possible. My paver approach will give you a pretty clean walk surface and any bugs who show up can be dispatched quickly with a swatter or your foot. The problem with pesticides is that they often kill the "good guys," which in turn can ruin a lawn, or eliminate natural defenses to garden pests. The sole exception is milky spore disease, applied to eliminate japanese beetle grubs. Non-toxic to humans when its in the ground.
Anyway, the method I'm suggesting, which takes about 3-4 hours, eliminates moving the pool around and saves you a lot of water. That said, be aware that even a few inches of water is enough to drown a person -so keep an eye on the little one.
OK? OK!
It's going to kill your grass.
Keep the pesticides in a childproof area and let your daughter enjoy the pool you can worry about the grass later.
First, keep all pesticides, organic or otherwise locked up in a cabinet where little folks can't get to them. You might want to build a small area with flat stones to put the pool on, then you don't have to be concerned about the grass, sun or not, deflating the pool everytime.
Pool will kill your grass no matter where you place it.
Pesticides also kill...so don't use them or leave them around any child.
Rotate your pool to different areas daily. Use your chemicals away from the pool and your daughter. Sod likes water, so drain your pool every other day and move it.
Drain your pool and move to a different area everyday. This will save your grass and maybe your little one. Just a couple inches of standing water can be a danger to small children. It's best not to use pesticides any place children or pets play.
I would drain the pool. I have actually killed places on my grass from leaving the pool up for more than acouple of days. The pesticides should be fine
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