Question
hi

i know this isn't in your expertise but there wasn't anyone who was a landscaping expert so i thought i'd try you. if you don't know, then just let me know. sorry for the bother.

we are putting up a play structure (made of cedar), premanufactured kind. we are not experienced in this but we had a friend who had one and he said that they had dug about a foot deep hole in an area, laid landscaping fabric around it, put up the structure and then put some kind of mulch around the play structure.  at the time, i did'nt think to ask him how he

1. secure the landscaping fabric to the ground so it doesn't move around
2. doesn't the mulch that is on the landscaping fabric sift so much when the kids play on it that it creates bare spots to show the landscaping fabric?

the friend has moved away and is not reachable anymore. thought i'd try you to see if you knew how play structrues were built on.

we didn't want to leave it on grass for fear of
termites and the difficulty of mowing.

thanks a lot.

jaclyn  

Answer
Hi Jaclyn,
About Play-ground base:

[1]: I have always used 6-8 inch galvanized nails or rust-proof wire made into an inverted 'U' to secure the fabric to prepared soil area.  This has worked well depending upon the type of soil, but this has never been for anything but garden areas. If the soil is very sandy, it will be hard to hold-down with any sort to stakes or pin-works.  You may want to place some 4x4 timbers to 'frame' your play-
ground area so that this too will help keep Weed-Barrier in place.

Dewitt CO is a major weed-barrier manufacturer, visit there web-site to see if they have any ideas or contacts that may help:
http://www.growers-supply-co.com/dewitt.htm


[2]: As for the mulch, a clean granular product like 'Play Sand' or pea-gravel may be considered. Do not use anything like 'river-sand'.  Anything you use will get kicked-around in proportion to how deep it is. Pea-gravel getting into the lawn can be a problem and a danger with mowing. Keeping just the weed-barrier un-mulched may be the most practical thing if you cannot get grasses to grow as an alternative.  I think there are some new and patented products for these types of constructions that may work better for you than anything, however,...these products probably cost considerably more than the mulches. There is now a patented paver-type product (I saw on TV several years ago) that is supposed to help prevent injuries from falls, but I do not know much more about it.  Go to GOOGLE.com and enter key-words 'safe playground' for many hundreds of web-sites that may help you with your plans.  for example: http://www.interventioncentral.org/htmdocs/interventions/behavior/playground.sht...

Note, If the play-ground structure will not be in constant daily use, you may do just as well in trying to keep the ground areas around the structures well planted with an extra-hardy grass-type such as 'Arizona Bermuda grass'. (for Zones-5-10).  You can use a string-type trimmer to keep this looking good around all the posts and timber works where mowers cannot go.  So, consider this instead of weed-barrier and mulches.  Any Grass-type, however, would probably not fare well over the long-haul with lots of kid activity on a daily basis.
An occasional spot-spraying with an insecticide should thwart any termites in the area. They are not likely to make a meal of any exposed timber-works.

Good Luck!
Jim Gibbs,
Microbiologist.