Natural look.·Seamless pour.·NZ-made.
MulchSet
A seamless poured-rubber surface that looks like wood chip — without any of the mess. Hygienic, accessible, and built for spaces where a natural aesthetic matters.
Overview
MulchSet is a "natural look" safety surface for recreational areas, playgrounds, and walkways — engineered to mimic wood mulch without any of the maintenance headaches that come with the real thing.
It's a long-lasting, water-permeable poured rubber surface, installed as a single continuous pour. That means zero joins, barrier-free access, and a highly durable alternative to organic mulches that wash away, decompose, or go mouldy.
Because the rubber shreds are 100% dyed-through (not colour-coated), MulchSet holds its appearance for years. Your brown stays brown. Your forest floor keeps looking like a forest floor.
2Signature colour blends
1-pieceSeamless pour — no joins
NZS 5828Safety certified
100%Dyed-through granules
Why MulchSet
All the look of bark. None of the hassle.
MulchSet was engineered to solve the specific problems of loose-fill surfacing — while keeping the natural character that makes parks, ECEs, and botanical spaces feel like they belong in nature.
Natural mulch appearance
Coloured and shaped rubber shreds blend to look remarkably like wood mulch — so much so that most visitors can't tell the difference until they're right up close.
Durable one-piece surface
Poured as one continuous sheet. No joins, no lifting tiles, no wash-away. Lower maintenance and longer life than any tile or loose-fill alternative.
Cushioned top layer
The springy rubber feels soft underfoot. Under equipment below 1m, MulchSet can even be installed as a safety surface without an added shock pad.
Calibrated shock pad
For higher equipment, a calibrated base pad is added. Higher gear = thicker pad. Certified fall protection all the way up to 3 metres.
Free-draining
Porous by design. Rain drains straight through, leaving the surface usable all year round — no puddles, no waiting, no closed-off mud patches.
UV resistant
Built from UV-stable rubber that holds its colour season after season. Your MulchSet install will still look like the day it was poured a decade later.
Colour Blends
Forest floor. Wood mulch. Pick your palette.
Two signature blends, each designed to mimic a specific natural environment. The green reads as forest floor when viewed from a distance. The browns pass for real bark at arm's length.
Blend 01
Forest Floor
Greens and browns that read as real forest floor from a distance. Perfect for botanical gardens and natural play environments.
Blend 02
Wood Mulch
The classic — warm browns that mimic fresh wood chip. A favourite for traditional playgrounds and heritage sites.
Blend 03
Red x Brown
A warmer alternative with red accents that evokes cedar mulch. Pairs beautifully with timber play equipment.
Accessibility
The only mulch-look surface that a wheelchair can actually cross.
One of MulchSet's most specified benefits is its accessibility. Unlike loose bark, it doesn't shift, compact unevenly, or trap small wheels. Because it's poured as one continuous piece, the entire surface meets barrier-free access standards.
Zero joins
A single continuous pour means no ledges, no seams, no tripping edges.
Stable under wheels
Wheelchairs, pushchairs, walkers and mobility scooters cross as easily as any paved surface.
Stays put on slopes
Can be installed on near-vertical slopes and will not wash away — tested on mounds over 2m high.
Tree-root friendly
Popular for root-protection zones — non-toxic and doesn't leach anything that could harm the tree.
The numbers
Technical specification.
Everything a specifier, landscape architect, or procurement team needs to scope a MulchSet install. Full PDF spec sheet below.
$188/m²
Indicative for 250m² area · no shock pad · no-fall
$188No-fall landscaping
$4303m CFH with shock pad
Investment
The natural look, priced for long-term value.
Compared to real bark at $24–$64/m², MulchSet costs more upfront — but it doesn't need top-ups, doesn't wash away, and lasts a decade or more. Most clients break even against bark within 5 years.
Price factors: area size, shock pad requirement (CFH), site access, slope, and project location.
Get a custom quote
Featured install
Parliament Playground, Wellington.
When Parliament built its first children's playground in 2020, they chose MulchSet for the surfacing — a choice that set a high standard for public space in Aotearoa.
Pipitea, Wellington
A playground fit for Parliament — and for the community that visits it.
Built to increase the accessibility and interest of Parliament to children and young families, the playground combines a feature slide, timber steppers, and timber balance beams — all sitting on MulchSet surfacing that complements the natural timber aesthetic.
Parliamentary Services chose MulchSet specifically because it saves ongoing maintenance time and cost otherwise spent on loose-fill alternatives.
Read full case study
Resources
Spec sheets and supporting docs.
Straight downloads. No form-gating.
Product Spec Sheet
Full technical specification with layer build-up, CFH tables, and certification details.
Maintenance Guide
Cleaning, inspection, and care over the lifetime of your MulchSet surface.
Colour Comparison
Side-by-side comparison of MulchSet blends against real bark and wood chip.
Get in touch
Natural look, no maintenance.
Tell us about your site — a tree-root zone, a school fall zone, a council park — and we'll come back within one working day with a clear, honest quote.
Free on-site measure-up
Fixed-price quote, no surprises
Or call 0800 686 124
Request a quote
We'll be in touch within one working day.