For the 1,000th time, pea gravel or cedar mulch under playset?

[dules]

ETUpdate! we got our pea gravel - see pics here: http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=12&topic_id=54227&mesg_id=54227&listing_type=search

We LOVE it, it's soft and attractive and the price was right (about $500 delivered, we spread it ourselves to a depth of about 6-8 inches).
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Our playset area is going to be approximately 26 X 30 feet. I think that means we need about 15 yards of material to make 6 inches of depth.

I lean toward cedar as it smells so good and is all natural, but our yard is damp-wet for a good part of the Spring (NJ) and stone seems to be much, much cheaper too.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has either of these surfaces and whether you're happy with what you chose. :)

Best,
Mary

[willow33]

Just some things to think about. Pea gravel can get stuck in the tread on some shoes and if you have tile floors can scratch and destroy them. This happened at my in-laws house since their driveway is gravel. We have mulch in our yard and like it. It does stay wet, tracks into our house, but seems softer, especially for my 13 month old who is still unsteady on his feet. And I agree that the smell is nice. I think there are pros and cons to both. HTH!

[Marisa6826]

Mary-

Just so you know, my vet warned that mulch is a favourite hiding place for ticks. Icky!!!

-m

[dules]

Theoretically not the cedar kind though? From what I've heard cedar is naturally bug repellent - big appeal for me. :) Tracking in the house and playing on wet mulch - low appeal for me (lol).

I just sent you a CL listing that your girls might like...

Best,
Mary

[Logansmum]

Another option here in CA is "rubber bark", which is ground up rubber tires... The store quoted $2.50 per sq foot.

I'm not sure if it smells in the heat, or is hot..

Has anyone installed this stuff?

(just starting to look at play sets.. oh my! what fun!)

:-) Amy

[dules]

It was more than the playset to get that delivered here in NJ - about $4K if I recall correctly. Ugh.

Best,
Mary

[AddiesMom]

Same in MA about the recycled tires, it was the same or more than the playset from Creative Playthings. It was really cool, it came in 3 colors.

We haven't done anything yet but the landscaper that built our retention wall said to do pea gravel. I think he said 3/8"???

[JBaxter]

We just left the grass and havent had a problem.

[vikivoly]

Go with the pea gravel!!! We have it and we absolutely love, love, love it. There has never been an instance of it getting caught in our shoes and even if it did, it's round, so I think it would take a lot to scratch up a floor. The girls love playing in it almost as much as they love the playset. We have/had a wet yard and our play area was put in at the wettest part of our yard. Before we got the drainage under control and had grass in our yard, it was the only clean place for the girls to play. You can go out immediately after a rainstorm and play. I just don't see a downside to it.

[dr mom]

We have "triple shredded playground mulch" which doesn't contain any actual cedar - too expensive. What I initially wanted was pea gravel, but after looking around at what was available locally, determined that "gravel" was pretty rough, and what I actually had in mind was "river stone" which is much smoother. Unfortunately there was some sort of critical North Carolina river stone shortage right when I wanted to order it, and the prices were astronomical...so we went with mulch. DH just expanded the perimeter of our playset enclosure so we're having another gazillion yards delivered tomorrow ($500 worth of MULCH!) and will spend the weekend schlepping it from driveway to backyard via wheelbarrow.

The mulch breaks down a little bit, but has held up well, isn't terribly rough to walk on, and both DH and our dog have enjoyed digging in it. And...cross fingers...no ticks thus far.

[luvtoshop]

Hi Mary!

We are looking into large rubber tiles. Not a fan of rubber, but like that it would be easy to clean.

Sandra