Landscaping Dilemma

[Ronbos1]

I am attempting to redo my entire back and side yard area from grass (or at least it was grass at one time) to a drought friendly yard with a rock creek down the middle. I want to create a 32' x 6' "Play Area" for things like corn hole, ladder golf, etc on one of the side yards. The majority of the yard will be crushed (decomposed) granite, with a couple small kidney shaped areas of grass on either side of the rock creek. My challenge is what to make the surface of the play area? I have thought of doing weed block, covered by a layer of sand or pea gravel, and then cover that with some 1/2" rubber mats. but not sure if that will be stable or squish down under weight of a person walking. Any suggestions?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Shredded tires, aka Rubber Mulch. They've been using it on playgrounds for a while.

 

[herm0016]

the shredded tire stuff is a bit of a fire hazard. i would do turf, you can usually buy it cheap from sports fields that are being redone, and you install it similar to your rubber mats, use sand instead of pea gravel.

 

[Ronbos1]

What would you recommend for the base under turf?

 

[herm0016]

paver sand, compacted.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Shredded tires, aka Rubber Mulch. They've been using it on playgrounds for a while.

There are also concerns about rubber mulch and cancer safety because of chemicals in the rubber. I'm not one of those nuts that's scared of everything artificial. I just read some cases of people getting exposure to bad stuff from these products. Also be aware that some rubber mulch can have metal in it.

Crushed stone will "lock" after it's compacted and wet/dried. It's used as the base layer under asphalt. You can use a machine from a rental place.