Play bark vs normal woodchip

[Ellie23409]

Hi,

We are looking into putting a surface down underneath our climbing frame set. It’s not overly high (1.5 metres fall height).

is there a huge difference between normal bark/wood chips and play grade bark? Other than the price? our local wood yard does bags really cheaply in comparison to the cost of play grade bark. Thank you

Have you considered installation? For either wood chip or bark to be effective in breaking a fall it will need to be quite deep, so you’ll have to dig out the area to the depth required (also to stop it spreading everywhere). Then you’ll need some kind of weed suppressant matting underneath (you can get natural fibre or artificial). Bark is softer than wood chip, so I imagine that’s why it’s called ‘play bark’. I would imagine pine bark would be quite good for this and readily available as pine trees grow quickly. Wood chip by its nature can be quite splintery. I have wood chip around my vegetable garden to a depth of around 4 inches. I don’t think this would be enough to break a fall! The wood chip sometimes gets into my shoes and it can be very sharp. Also I need to replace it every year as it rots down. I have a wood chipper and I own woodland so this isn’t a worry for me but it will be a cost you’ll need to account for, as well as the time and effort to replace it. Also bear in mind if your house is close to the play area, wood contains tannins which can stain, and there’s a risk it will be tracked into the house on shoes.

I looked into surfaces to go under our playground a few years ago, from wood chip to rubber chips to recycled rubber matting, and I concluded that good old grass was the best option! Cheap, easy, non-polluting, and no-one has ever fallen off ours, which is around 2m high.

if you have more of a concrete yard than a garden it’s a different matter…and I would probably go for a rubber-type playground matting if worried.