We just bought a swingset for our backyard and created a bordered area for it. Now we are wondering what to fill it with - rubber mulch or high-quality wood chips? There seems to be a lot of conflicting information on the internet about the pros and cons of each. For those of you who have either, could let me know if your experience with it has been positive or negative? Thanks!
Thank you everybody for your responses. I was a little appalled at the cost, but we ended up ordering rubber mulch. We are hoping that it will last several years so we can feel good about splurging on it.
We went to a party once where they had a large swingset (huge yard) with a fort etc. They had fake grass. The dad joked he never has to mow that part of the yard and the mom said they had little rocks under it. I am guessing she meant pea gravel.
When I was a kid, our swing set was just on and over our grass lawn.
It was just fine.
Anything you fill it with, keep in mind that one day if you want to get rid of it, then how will you do that?
It may be biodegradable or not.
This is something to think about.
And wood chips, well insects can live in that and make house.
And yes, splinters etc.
And anything else may get moldy or get mildew growing on it etc.
My vote is just using the existing lawn, as the ground for it.
And lawn is natural and you don't have to buy anything for under the swing set.
It does not have to be bordered etc.
When I was a kid, swing sets or apparatuses, was just place on and over the grass lawn. Simple and easy.
ours has grass. They don't really need something fancy under them.
if you just HAVE to spend the extra money , do rubber mulch no splinters.
Wood decomposes and grows mold, it causes allergy attacks and in general is super gross.
The rubber is one of those things that gets on everything. You leave the playground with black debris all over you.
In child care IF the highest point is 4' or less then we can use only grass. So if the highest point they'll be climbing on is short you don't need a high cost ground cover.
Pea gravel is a good choice because it absorbs the fall and it has no debris that gets everywhere.
We had a huge sandbox with our climbing equipment in it along with several other structures. In a neighborhood of tons of cats and we didn't have much of a problem with them using it. I had a staff person go out before we got the kids up from nap each day and they hardly ever had to pick up even a piece of trash. So just because it's sand does not mean the cat with use it.
I have a play set at my home that is very tall. The lower platform for the slide is level with my chin. We have always used grass and now that we've moved it we're planning on planting a more dense grass under it. I am not able to spend a lot of money on anything like you're talking about.
BUT if I was going to do a ground cover I would do gravel. 100%.
if you do wood chips they will get splinters and always need to wear shoes. Our friends have wood chips on theirs and its a never ending splinter party.
Rubber mulch. It is cheaper in the long run. It takes 8 years to degrade, and we figured it wasn't that much more than high quality mulch.
Ours actually paid for inself immediately: the area flooded,and unlike wood, the rubber didn't float all over our yard.
Btw, our rubber doesn't leave a film, it doesn't smell. It's terrific! Just make sure you get quality rubber mulch.
We're in the process of building one too and just plan to use the lawn.
We had wood chips (the larger size) under ours for many years and splinters were never a problem. I'm not sure where Jane's friends got their chips (see her response below) but like I said, never an issue here!
Mulch can be thrown and it doesn't feel good in the eye or if you fall on it. Our set has just grass with it worn a bit under each swing and at the bottom of the slide. We're considering putting a dirt/gravel mix in those areas as when it rains it gets a bit muddy.
K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
We're doing the same thing in about a month and filling the bottom with sand.
My BIL and SIL have the same set up - giant sandbox with play set. Our kids and theirs play in it all the time - no issues (and no sand in the house)
We had a square area dug out (down to dirt) and put a landscape timber border around it. Then we covered the area with the black ground covering you can buy at Home Depot or Lowe's. We put down wood chips, then put in the playground. Worked well, kids didn't get splinters, and we didn't have weeds growing up through it. Good luck and enjoy!
Don't do rubber chips! The playgrounds at my kids' schools have those and everyone hates them! They leave a black film on everything - snowpants and coats in the winter; clothes, knees, and hands in the summer. I'm not a fan of wood chips either but at least they don't leave a layer of filth.
We have rubber mulch under our swingset. It was pricey but worth it--I hate the bugs crawling through wood mulch. The rubber mulch does have a tendency to stick to shoes and clothing. An added bonus of the rubber mulch is that it is so lightweight that the whole family can help unload and spread it around.
As a teacher I have seen probably every option out there. My all-time favorite is the recycled rubber mulch. Kids just bounce right up when they hit the ground and they are much quicker to keep going. The rubber bits tend to stay out of shoes better than other options, too. The wood chips cause splinters, do not give much cushion to a fall, and like to hitch a ride in shoes and end up all over inside.
I just went and looked up pictures of rubber mulch. Our playgrounds have the bigger chunks, not the shredded stuff. I have seen the shredded stuff come in on clothes and shoes and leave yucky residue on everything. The big chunks do not.
