Landscaping a playground/swing set?
 

Well, we pulled the trigger on a playground in the backyard for the kids. It's a Rainbow set to be delivered next weekend. My concern is: what to do with the landscaping? Do you just put it on the grass and then mow/weedeat around it all summer (don't like this option)? Or, do you build a bed with rubber mulch?

Anybody ever dealt with this? If you built the bed, is it as expensive as an initial glance at prices would appear?

How old are your kids?

If you're not wanting to mow and weedeat around it, why not just go with a small pea gravel bed instead of a potentially smelly fire hazard?

Good idea.....also make sure that you add a weed barrier of some type.

When mini-FAX was little, I built a sandbox under ours, Mr. KevB.

It worked great. No mowing and the little bugger would build sand monoliths when he grew tired of swinging and sliding and yelling and climbing and running and screaming.

FAX

I know nothing about how to set it up, but I'm sure hoping that I get an invitation to the grand opening. I love climbing on stuff.

I'm sure he enjoyed digging for buried treasure and finding secret kitty biscuits to munch on as well. Seriously, a sandbox is like asking every cat in the neighborhood to come take a dump in your yard. We're putting a sandbox in our back yard soon, but it's going to have a cover.

I also want to raise the bed where our swingset is and put some kind material in it similar to sand but without the cat-attraction features. Maybe some sort of chopped up rubber? Gravel seems a little hard. Any suggestions on a good playground "mulch" material?

If you put an anti-freeze moat around the sand, the cat problem takes care of itself.

Leaving the grass will just result in bare dirt patches under the swingset.

Pea gravel has rounded edges and if you bed it about 6" deep, is going to be a fairly forgiving surface should the kids fall on it. There are all kinds of potential issues arising from the use of rubber, ranging from odor to killing off of surrounding vegetation from any water run-off.

I never thought about the cat issue, Mr. NewChief. We didn't have that problem at all. Our dogs, perhaps?

You're right, though. If neighborhood cats are a concern and you are opposed to experimenting with the variety of cat eradication techniques readily available at the local gun store, the sandbox idea is no solution.

FAX

The main reason I want to landscape it is that the set is currently on a gentle slope. I'd like to raise the bed, thus leveling it. It's functional now, but I'd like it to look good.

For those that warned of the rubber, thanks! I'll probably go with pea gravel instead.

Beat me to it. :)

Weeeee!

http://static.flickr.com/30/37862790_b4ba122d18.jpg?v=0

Wii?

We just built a pretty big one at my folks for the grandkids. We built a parimeter around it with Railroad ties and dumped 10 ton of clean sand in it.

I'm ordering one of those "big dig" things that look like a seat with a backhoe to set in it later.

A little round-up along the edge and you won't have to weedeat for a year.

In this particular case study, cat shit isn't a problem, as the pair of 110lb dogs and a australian shepard that routinely cruise the area, solve said problem before its an issue.