Ground Cover

[kcnjason]

Looking into ground cover. I'm curious what others have? Pros and cons of wood chips and gravel?

[AmyKidsCo]

I have old-fashioned grass. I don't have high enough play equipment to need anything else, and we only mow 2-3 times a summer so it gets long and soft. The flower beds have mulch so the children know where they can pick flowers (grass) and where they can't (mulch).

[Controlled Chaos]

I have been xeroscaping my front yard and researching lots of ground cover I would worry it wouldn't have time to establish in a play area before being trampled. I have grass in the back. Woodchips - If you can train the kids not to throw them they are great.

[Play Care]

I have woodchips and haven't had any issues. I can't do rubber mulch as it would get too hot. Pea gravel is expensive and when I'm done with day care and get rid of the swing set, I don't want to have to deal with that removal. A long time provider who had used wood chips in her play space loved that when she retired, she didn't really have to deal with anything as it's all organic matter.

She swears her lawn where the swing set used to be is just beautiful

[e.j.]

I use wood mulch in my playground area. The only drawback is having to replace it each year because it does pack down eventually as the kids play on it and it decomposes over the winter. Otherwise, I like it. It smells so nice when we first put it down and keeps the ground from getting muddy when it rains.

[scorp122]

we went with pea rock this time around and i love it, the only thing about wood chips is that they stick to clothing and always seem to be brought into the house.