# On the Ground, Under the Play Area - what do you use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748 "2006-05-22T14:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/1 "2006-05-22T14:14:32Z")
I put my 2-yr-old twins’ outdoor toys (sand/water table, little slide, teeter-totter, etc) in a spot where there really isn’t any grass anyway because it’s too shady. Which is good, since I never remember to put sunscreen on 'em anyway; I love watching them play in the shade of the pine trees. But they don’t particularly like the ground there, it’s full of prickly pine needles and little sticks. Which means I have to find their shoes every time we go outside. This is no small undertaking. And then mowing it is a drag, we have to move the toys every time. We were thinking about boxing it out and filling it with something - only, what? Any ideas/recommendations? We were thinking about pea gravel, I remember playgrounds with that & it wouldn’t get particularly hot in that spot since it’s so shaded. ---
**Author:** ![MizGrand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cdc98d/32.png) [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/2 "2006-05-22T14:20:36Z")
When we last did landscaping, we used a new_er_ product made from old tires. It’s cut small like tanbark, but is rubber. It comes in lots of neat colors. We got red only because they were out of Bright Blue. Google on “recycled rubber mulch” and you’ll get lots of info. It’s a bit pricier, but the color stays true and it lasts way longer than bark. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/3 "2006-05-23T18:33:38Z")
A couple things to think about… 1. The grass isn’t growing under the tree due to the pine needles. They are very acidic and are not conducive to grass growing. You can change the pH of the soil by adding things like lime, but you’ll have to get soil tests to determine how much and what to put down. 2. The pine trees will continue to shed needles. Even if you’ve cleaned them up recently, more will collect. The kids feet will find them. 3. If you put down a kid friendly surface, you’ll still have to sweep/blow it to keep the annoying needles off. With loose surface coverings, the needles will work their way down into the gravel/sand/bark/balls and the kids feet will still find them. As a initial guess, I would suggest keeping the surface flat (easy of sweeping/raking/blowing). [Rubaroc](http://www.rubaroc.com/) is a surface like a rubber asphalt. I have no idea how expensive it may be. For that matter, if you are going to frame it out anyways, why not put a couple of sheets of 3/4" plywood down and paint it bright colours? I guess sort of like a small deck with a solid floor (slight angle to allow water to run off). It would be easy to keep clean (except for the toys). BTW, watch out for when they start grabbing twigs or the tree trunk…the pine sap is a PITA to get off skin…see the scene in Christmas Vacation after the tree is set up. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/4 "2006-05-23T18:44:14Z")
Wow, hey, thanks! You are exactly right! And the nice thing about a plywood deck is they could roll their wheeled conveyances around on it – we don’t have sidewalks out here. They’ll be ready for tricycles in a few months. The ground is already sloped, which I was thinking we’d have to compensate for - but maybe it would be better to leave it somewhat angled. And I looooove the idea of painting it! Maybe we could make it a BIG deck & have a significant play area for 'em. Gee, make me glad I paid my $7.95 would you! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/5 "2006-05-24T14:53:01Z")
Wow, the idea of putting a plywood (ie hard) base down underneath a kids playground just sounds pretty counter-productive to me. Kids fall off things like slides and teeter-totters, and you want them to land on something that lets them know falling is not good, but not life-altering either. A big piece of plywood just doesn’t fit the bill in my opinion. The rubber mulch, sand, etc are better ideas as they will absorb impacts much better, but you will also still have to deal with the needles and branches. The needles and branches are going to be an issue no matter what, the problem is your location. I would suggest either a gazebo cover of some sort, or moving the location of the play area. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/6 "2006-05-24T16:08:40Z")
Well, [the slide in question is very small](http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2481700), as is the teeter-totter (I don’t think it’s even possible to “fall” off of it). I was thinking more in terms of them riding bikes and skating on it, as I once did on my parents’ patio (which was huge at the time, and has mysteriously shrunk in the past 30 years). I’ve been wishing the kids had a similar patio, but I really don’t want to imagine putting in a bunch of concrete. The rubber mulch would make sense under their swingset, however. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/7 "2006-05-24T16:27:52Z")
Another vote for the Rubaroc \*\*cantara \*\*posted. It’s under all the newest playgrounds and parks around here, **fessie**. I’m sure you can go look at some near you. It has a neat spongy bounce, but it’s hard enough to ride a trike or such on. It can also be written on with sidewalk chalk and washed clean with a garden hose. Needles will just sweep off instead of getting imbedded in mulch. Plywood is not recommended playground material because it’s too hard, it’s always sending up splinters, and there’s nails or staples that come loose and present both scratching and choking hazards. The slide may be small now, but the kids won’t be for long. Why not build them something that can grow with them? (Unless, of course, you’re planning on moving in the next year or so.) ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/8 "2006-05-24T18:35:57Z")
Alright, just for the sake of curiosity, I went ahead to their site & requested a quote for a 10 x 15 patio. From their questions it’s clear they want this material used on an established, hard surface - I’m guessing they’d recommend layering on concrete (which I’m not willing to install - we’d take out tree just to get a truck back there!). I’ll post their quote & remarks… ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/on-the-ground-under-the-play-area-what-do-you-use/357748/9 "2006-05-24T19:05:45Z")
Whatever you do, don’t use sand. It just becomes a giant ant colony and sometime cat litter box…