Playground Mulch: A Matter of Safety

By Mike Uittenbogaard, Ground Solutions

An outdoor area designed to attract children is an amenity that also encourages them to be active. If your property is a playground, then you need to be concerned with safety and have a plan for the use, enjoyment, and maintenance of the playground. It is important for kids to be active and have fun, but it is very important for them to be safe.

Playground Injuries: The Facts

The researchers at the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission track information on playground safety and injuries. They have found:

• Each year, more than 200,000 kids go to the emergency room for playground injuries.

• Most injuries occur when a child falls off the playground equipment onto the ground.

• Dirt and grass surfaces do not provide enough protection for children falling off playground equipment.

These facts show the importance of your playground surface. A substandard surface is dangerous for the children who use your equipment.

Wood Mulch Makes a Difference

The decision to install a playground surface that is right for your children’s safety make a lot of sense. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends at least twelve inches of certified wood playground mulch underneath playground equipment. This helps protect children from injury when they fall.

Your mulch needs to be deep enough, but it also needs to extend far enough. Make sure your play equipment is surrounded by six feet of mulch on all sides. Pay special attention to the areas around swings and underneath slides. If you’re concerned about safety, you can’t skimp on mulch in these areas.

Blown Mulch Makes It Easy

If you need to add mulch to your playground, our nationwide mulch provider network make it easy to get mulch installed or delivered to your playground. Typically we recommend playground mulch be installed with a mulch blowing professional. Here’s why blown mulch is the best solution for playgrounds:

Fast: Blowing mulch is so much faster than manual methods. Our crews can spread more than 50 yards of mulch in two hours. This means you don’t need to try to keep eager playground users out of the area for days. After just a few hours of work, your playground will be safe for everyone and ready to use.

Neat: Blown mulch is much neater than hauling it by hand. You won’t have to worry about a pile of unsightly mulch on your property, and you won’t have a crew tracking it through the rest of your landscaping. Instead, our trucks install mulch exactly where you need it. The trucks don’t need to go on your lawn or playground. The blower truck parks safely at a distance, and our crews use long hoses to bring the mulch to your playground. The end result looks great with no mess.

Easy: If your playground is fenced or features extensive climbing structures, manual mulch installers might have trouble. They might ask you to remove fencing or dismantle equipment so they can get the mulch into your site. Blown mulch can go anywhere with ease. Our crews use flexible tubing that can go over fences and around equipment. There’s no need to remove your playground features.