Shading the Sand Box

One of the favorite places for the boys and their friends to play is the sand box. Even with a section of decking above, the sun can beat down from an angle and make it too hot. In an attempt to shade it more and still let the breezes through, I took a length of heavy duty landscaping fabric and stapled it to the side of the deck above. I then cut vertical lines in the fabric to about 3 inches from the top.

In front of the play area, I planted some ornamental grasses. I can let the grasses naturally increase in clump size over the next few years to provide more shading, or divide each year to keep them relatively small. The sand stays shady and cool now all day long.