Grass Goes Hard in August: Best Surface for Garden Play Area

Key Takeaways

• The best material for a garden play area with a swing or climbing frame is certified play bark or play chip laid at 200mm, because both are rated for falls above 3m and are topped up rather than replaced.
• Play sand is certified for falls above 3m at 300mm and 400mm under equipment, but a wet or frozen sandpit loses much of its cushioning, so under a swing it is a summer surface more than a winter one.
• Rounded play gravel is certified for falls above 3m at 200mm and 300mm, lasts well beyond all other surfaces because it is rock, and suits children past the age of putting things in their mouths.
• Artificial grass and rubber surfaces only count as a safety surface when the shockpad or the rubber product carries its own fall height rating, because a tidy finish on top absorbs nothing by itself.
• Grass is an acceptable play surface only for falls up to 1.5m, and only while the soil is moist: in a dry August a lawn sets almost as hard as a path, which is the month the equipment gets used most.

Every September, I’d often have a calls from parents whose gardens had taken a battering from their kids play over the summer. One family had put up a climbing frame in May, and after weeks of daily use, the grass beneath the swings was gone, leaving a hard, bare patch of earth and a worn strip at the bottom of the slide. Then their youngest boy had a bad fall.

They were DIYers who tried to work out what to put down themselves online, but after finding loads of conflicting advice, from 150mm of play bark being enough to simply keeping the grass, they called me. When I arrived, I could see the main issue wasn’t just the missing lawn; the ground beneath the equipment had become compacted, and there was little to soften a fall. We talked through the options, including play bark, rubber surfaces and grass, explaining where each worked best and what maintenance it needed. We cleared the worn area and put down a play bark surface at the right depth for their equipment. It made the space safer and easier to maintain, without costing them too much.

What is the best surface for a garden play area?

The best surface for a garden play area under a swing or climbing frame is certified play bark or play chip at 200mm, with play sand or play gravel the main alternatives. Rubber wet pour is very expensive, in spite of its superior cushioning. Here is every surface side by side, and the garden situations that decide between them after it.

The thing that catches people is that play bark and play chip carry the same certificate, so choosing between them is about texture, mess and price.

Which play area surface suits your garden?

The best surface for an outdoor play area comes down to five things: the age of the children, what they fall from, pets, how the ground drains, and the budget.

Toddlers and bare feet

Play sand is the surface for a toddler with nothing to fall from, because a sandpit is something to do as well as something to land on. Once there is a slide or a low frame, I would go to the 10-30mm play chip: it is the finest grade we sell, bare feet barely notice it, and it is fully certified.

A swing or a climbing frame

Under a swing or climbing frame, the certified surface has to cover every bit of ground a child can land on: 1.5m out all round under BS EN 1176, and 1.75m in front of and behind a swing, so a 2m swing frame is a 2m by 5.5m job. I would lay play bark or play chip there at 200mm, and leave grass for the toddler slide. If you want to keep the lawn, grass mats pegged under the swing seat and the slide exit protect the two spots that wear to mud first.

Cats and dogs

Pets turn a play surface into a toilet: an open sandpit for a cat, bark for a dog. A sandpit cover every evening sorts most of the cat problem. If you are making your own, our guide on how to build a DIY sandpit covers the gravel, the frame and the lid. For a dog and a toddler who plays on hands and knees, I would choose play gravel, which is easy to see on and easy to scoop, or fence the dog out.

Wet, shady or clay ground

Wet ground is where most garden play areas fail, and no surface fixes it on its own. Lay 100mm of clean gravel first, a heavy duty membrane pegged over it, then the surface, and the garden play areas guide covers whether to dig down or build up. On ground like that I would pick play gravel, because it drains straight through and cannot rot.

The tightest budget

Play chip is the cheapest certified surface to lay at depth. What I would not do is buy a tonne of arborist chip off a marketplace for forty quid: it is whatever tree came down that week, it has never been tested, will be full of sharps and who knows what else, and it will not knit the way a screened play grade does.

Is play bark or play chip better for a garden play area?

Play bark and play chip are equally safe for a garden play area, because all five products Outdoor Aggregates sells were tested by Labosport to BS EN 1177:2018 and every one is rated above 3m at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm.

Chip at 10-30mm is the finest, and the hardwood version lasts around twice as long as the softwood. Bark at 18-35mm is the classic play area look and the one I laid most. The 30-60mm nuggets last longest and stay put best, but are lumpier. The play bark range and play chip range put our grades side by side, and play bark against normal bark explains why the decorative bag is a different product.

Is play sand or play gravel better for a play area?

Play sand is the better choice for a sandpit and for toddlers, and play gravel is the better choice under a frame for older children or on wet ground.

Our Play Sand passed the fall test above 3m at both 300mm and 400mm, so those are the depths under equipment. A sandpit wants 300mm of play sand, the depth children can dig and mould in. 100 to 150mm is only a safety level for a very young baby. Our tiny, rounded play sand keeps air between the grains when a child lands, where angular builder’s sand packs hard. It loses much of that cushioning wet or frozen. The play sand calculator will help you work out exactly what you need.

Our Play Gravel is rounded 4-6mm pea gravel, certified above 3m at 200mm and 300mm, and I would lay it at 300mm. Being rock, it lasts well beyond all other surfaces, is pH neutral and does not attract rats. It can graze knees and small hands throw it, so I keep it for children past the mouthing stage.

Is grass safe under a swing or climbing frame?

Grass is deemed safe under a swing or climbing frame only for falls up to 1.5m, and only while the soil under it is moist enough to give. That figure is in the current equipment standard, BS EN 1176-1:2017, and RoSPA’s play safety team quotes it too. However, it is for well kept grass with at least 150mm of soil under it, “subject to a risk assessment”. In a garden, the risk assessment is a parent pressing a thumb into the lawn in August. After three dry weeks a lawn sets nearly as hard as a path, during the summer holidays when the frame is busiest, and by October the patch under the swing seat is mud. I would only keep the lawn for the toddler slide.

Is artificial grass or rubber mulch safe for a garden play area?

Artificial grass is a safe play surface only on a rated shockpad, and rubber mulch is a strong impact absorber, although it’s not without it’s problems. Without a shockpad, a child landing on artificial grass hits whatever base is under it, so get the pad’s fall height figure from its manufacturer in writing. It also gets hot in full sun.

Loose rubber is rated by suppliers at roughly 250 to 300mm and laid at 350 to 400mm, and it rarely needs topping up. Against that, it gets hot, nobody has settled what leaches out of tyre crumb, and once it spreads into a lawn it is there for good, where bark composts away. If it is still the surface you want, the steps are in our guide to laying rubber mulch.

What does “rated for falls above 3m” mean?

A play surface rated for falls above 3m has been tested to BS EN 1177:2018 at a stated depth, and a head landing on it from 3m at that depth stayed within the injury limit the standard sets. Every product says “above 3m” because 3m is the highest fall the equipment standard allows on any frame, so the laboratory stops there. Outdoor Aggregates had seven products tested by Labosport: bark and chip passed at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm, Play Gravel at 200mm and 300mm, Play Sand at 300mm and 400mm.

So why lay 200mm of bark when 100mm passed?

The test sample was fresh and loose. A year on, the patch under your swing is trodden solid and scuffed thin, and the extra depth keeps the thinnest spot near the tested depth. Order 10 to 20% extra for settling and check the depth once a year. Between checks, a mark on every frame leg at the surface does the measuring for you: when the mark shows, rake the bark back, and when raking will not cover it, top up. Our garden play areas guide explains the depth mark and how to set it up on the day the bark goes down.

What does a garden play area surface cost?

A garden play area surface costs least per square metre in play chip and bark, more in play gravel and sand because a bag covers less at their deeper certified depths, and most in bound rubber.

A single 2m swing with its landing zones is about 11m², which at 200mm with 15% for settling is three 1,000L bulk bags. Put your own frame into the play bark calculator to find out exactly how much you need and get an instant price estimate. For scale, a bulk bag of Softwood Play Grade Chips is £147 and Deluxe Pine Play Area Bark is £254, each covering 5m² at 200mm. An 850kg bag of Play Gravel is £157 for about 1.9m² at 300mm, and Play Sand is £147 for about 1.8m² at 300mm.

Budget for an edge as well, because 200mm of loose fill spreads across the lawn in one winter without sleepers or log roll holding it in. Which edging to use is in edging a garden. If you want the sums checked before you order, call us with the frame size.

Next Steps

Every certified surface in this guide is in the play surfaces range, delivered nationwide, and each product page carries its test report details.

If you would rather talk your play area through with a person, call Outdoor Aggregates on 0330 043 7585. The office is open 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.

Have you ever put a surface under a swing or a climbing frame? What did you choose, and what depth did you lay it at? Tell us how it fared in the comments.

FAQs

What is the best surface for a kids’ play area in my garden?

The best surface for a kids’ play area in a garden with a swing or climbing frame is certified play bark or play chip at 200mm, because both are rated for falls above 3m and cost the least to lay deep. For toddlers with nothing to fall from, play sand wins.

Which surfacing material is not recommended under playground equipment?

Concrete, paving, tarmac and compacted hardcore are not recommended under playground equipment, and grass joins them under anything higher than 1.5m and where the soil is hard. Decorative bark and arborist chip are not recommended either, because neither has been tested.

What is the cheapest playground surface?

Play chip is the cheapest certified playground surface to buy and lay at depth, with play bark close behind. Play gravel costs more per square metre up front, but it lasts indefinitely because it is rock and never rots, so over the life of a play area it can work out the cheapest of all.

What is the least toxic playground surface?

Play sand, play gravel and untreated pine play bark or chip are the least toxic playground surfaces, because they are sand, stone and screened wood with nothing added.

What can I use instead of bark for my play area?

Play chip, rounded play gravel or play sand can all replace bark in a play area, and all three carry a BS EN 1177 certificate. Play gravel is the one to choose where a dog uses the garden or the ground stays wet, because it cannot rot and is easy to clean.

What is the safest surface to put under a playset?

The safest surface to put under a playset is a certified loose fill laid deeper than its tested depth: play bark or play chip at 200mm, play gravel at 300mm, or play sand at 300mm or 400mm.