Mulch, Sand, Grass, Pea Gravel, Rubber... What Do You Think?

[butterfly]

I have rubber mulch under my swing set. I love it. I wish I could afford to do the whole play area with it. I have my swing set kinda in the middle (rubber mulch under it) and I have cedar mulch around the outside of it where I have my play house and sand box and picnic table. I'm so tired of picking up cedar mulch - picking it out of the grass when it gets kicked out of its area, picking it out of the rubber mulch....

I'm considering either removing the cedar mulch all together or replacing part of it with something else. Any ideas? I like the idea of having something to cushion falls and not having to mow around all that stuff.

Can't find my camera to take a pic for you, sorry.

[melilley]

We bought some landscape timber and edged the playground with that. It keeps most of the mulch in and when you mow, you don't have to worry about running it over.

[Blackcat31]

I had grass under my swings but the kids just drug their feet enough that the grass died.

Then I put mulch under the swings and the kids kicked it, carried it and threw it all over the yard.

Then I put sand under the swings and the kids would kneel underneath and try to play in it like a sandbox and then cry when the other kids wanted to swing.

Now it is just plain old dirt.

Works best for me

[Blackcat31]

Here are some other threads about ground cover

https://www.daycare.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40258

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=mulch

https://www.daycare.com/forum/tags.php?tag=mulch+-+rubber

[melilley]

I had grass under my swings but the kids just drug their feet enough that the grass died.

Then I put mulch under the swings and the kids kicked it, carried it and threw it all over the yard.

Then I put sand under the swings and the kids would kneel underneath and try to play in it like a sandbox and then cry when the other kids wanted to swing.

Now it is just plain old dirt.

Works best for me

Lucky! Here we have to have something under anything that is over 30 inches high and they recommend putting 6-12 inches under those things. It can't be grass or dirt it has to be something like mulch or what the op said.

[MsLaura529]

I know that here in MI, we have to have ground cover underneath anything that is a height of 30" or higher... which is why the daycare kids cannot play on my swing set yet because we haven't gotten anything under there.

I think we are just going to go with the cheapest mulch we can get right now, and then line that the landscape timber like PP mentioned. It should help keep it contained a little.

If you're thinking of removing the cedar mulch, would it be dirt under it? Or grass?

ETA: Haha, we must have posted at the same time about MI requirements

[mnemom]

We just installed a HUGE play structure. DH dug down 9in, installed a border, and put in 6in of pea gravel. We made it so you have to step down into it so less gravel will be coming out onto the grass. We also gave 4ft clearance on all side of the playstructure.

[melilley]

I know that here in MI, we have to have ground cover underneath anything that is a height of 30" or higher... which is why the daycare kids cannot play on my swing set yet because we haven't gotten anything under there.

I think we are just going to go with the cheapest mulch we can get right now, and then line that the landscape timber like PP mentioned. It should help keep it contained a little.

If you're thinking of removing the cedar mulch, would it be dirt under it? Or grass?

ETA: Haha, we must have posted at the same time about MI requirements

Lol..we bought playground mulch/wood chips. It's cheap and doesn't have any chemicals in it...some of my babies like to "taste" the mulch.

[melilley]

We just installed a HUGE play structure. DH dug down 9in, installed a border, and put in 6in of pea gravel. We made it so you have to step down into it so less gravel will be coming out onto the grass. We also gave 4ft clearance on all side of the playstructure.

What a good idea, digging down. Had to have been a lot of work!

[countrymom]

I have pea stones.

[rmc20021]

Out of everything I've ever used I liked the pea gravel best. I had a rule though that the rocks stayed on the ground...they liked to throw it UP the slide. My playground was fenced off so little ones could't get into it though and walk behind the swings.

HATE, HATE, HATE sand....and not crazy about mulch either.

[butterfly]

If you're thinking of removing the cedar mulch, would it be dirt under it? Or grass?

I have landscaping fabric down over the grass (which would be dead now) and mulch over top of that. If I removed the mulch it would just be the fabric right now. I was considering pulling that up and planting grass there again or doing something else...

I am required to have a certain depth of mulch under my swingset, but not around my other play things.

[Play Care]

Lol..we bought playground mulch/wood chips. It's cheap and doesn't have any chemicals in it...some of my babies like to "taste" the mulch.

This is what we have. We had to have something. Pea stone was out as if I ever want to get rid of the play set, I didn't want to have to shovel out rocks. Regular mulch was too dirty. Our play set is in full all day sun (it was the only good spot for it) so rubber mulch was out as it can get hot. The playground grade wood chips work pretty good for the most part.

[mamac]

If regulations would allow me to have pea gravel that's what I'd go with. It has enough give to it to cushion a fall and it doesn't have any sharp or jagged edges that may hurt. I'm stuck with having to use bark mulch (not nuggets) that do and have given splinters and scrapes to my kids. Not a big fan of it. Plus the cost to replace every year negates the fact that it's initially a cheap ground cover. (especially at the required 9"!)

[Lavender]

At my work we have rubber mulch and I don't like it. It gets caught in kids shoes and gets tracked in plus it's hard with my kids (mobile infants) because they want to put it in their mouth. At my house my kids' playground has pea gravel under it. The area steps down like a pp mentioned. I think it's perfect. The gravel never seems to track out.