Bark or rubber chippings for play area?

[InsolentAnnie]

Has anyone got experience of either of these? Not sure which to go for - rubber is definitely pricier, but bark will presumably decompose and need replacing. What’s the most cost effective option - or is there something else I’ve not thought of? It’s about 40sqm and going under a swing, playhouse and trampoline. The area is going to be raised up (once we’ve finished digging it....) so we don’t want grass as it’ll be a pain to mow! Any tips gratefully received!

We chose rubber for our area for a couple of reasons. One that we won’t have to keep replacing it and also we have cats and didn’t want it to become a big litter tray! We chose a green colour so looks good in the garden.

Bark might be cheaper than rubberchips short term but can be sharp and will need topping up. Rubber matting over grass or astroturf might be preferable.

bark
you will need to top up every other year, but tbh kids are only small for a few years.

https://www.slip-not.co.uk/size/Premium-Rubber-Grass-Mats/6094?cqsrc=googleeads&cqcmp=13420721193&cqqterm=&cqplac=&cqqnet=g&cqplt=gp&gclid=Cj0KCQjwhheFBhDZARIsALHjIKe3ajXQjI1RfK31I2Xbi6HhIU8ROkqOE9XzElfYOxFLt8Q8b9CeKIaAgH7EALww_wcB

We have recently had this debate we went for bark. It looks very nice in the garden tbf and will need topping up each year I think but we got ours for free from a local tree surgeon. I was a bit concerned with how the plastic chippings would spread and how to get rid of them in a few years.

Rubber chippings are expensive. Also can get quite hot if it's in a very sunny location

Bark mulch much cheaper and easier to replenish

We got rubber because there are lots of foxes & cats round our way, more likely they’d use the bark as a litter box

We have bark Cat for some reson pooed on the light coloured bark which we had elsewhere but not on the dark coloured bark around the kids stuff

Grass?

We have bark and it’s soft and looks nice and better for the environment.

What is nearby? If there is a lawn nearby defo bark as your lawnmower can tidy up a few stray bark chips for you and they will compost. In a few years your children will have outgrown this area and all the bark can be reused as mulch.

Rubber mulch stains clothing so badly you will eventually give up fighting the stains and just accept them. Our school had rubber mulch for a few years and all the kids school clothes ended up covered in black spots.

My kids hate the feel of bark when they wear sandals and it’s not good for running about barefoot either so those would be factors for me.

Thank you all - v helpful! Think we will go for bark. If there was a major difference it’d be the rubber but it doesn’t seem like there’s enough of a benefit to justify the cost. We don’t really get cats in this garden (in eight years I’ve never come across any cat poo - think they’re all scared of the dog!) so I don’t think that’ll be a probatem. Thank you!