Update on my own roof rat control efforts. I have successfully used snap traps tied to branches in my fig tree, using the plan outlined on this U. of Florida extension website: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw120. A key idea is to activate the traps at dusk and disable them at dawn in order to avoid by-catch of other animals and birds (it also helps here that the traps are in a tree with nothing in it that would attract other animals, like possums). In two nights I have caught 3 rats (including a humungous, mature male and two young females). My neighbors (the new, responsible ones replacing the hoarders who had exacerbated the rat situation), seeing my success, have also started trapping. This is clearly a good time to do so: the rats are apparently desperate right now, with no fruit currently readily available and so desperate that they had, earlier this week, actually begun to eat the bark on my fig tree, girdling one branch completely, having already eaten all the terminal buds and baby figs on the tree. With luck, we can knock these populations back down and have some peace again on this front. Unlike the scare statistics put forth by professional exterminators, roof rat populations are not infinite -- they just seem to be -- and can be controlled (Norway rats, now, are another thing entirely...).

Agree w/spicebush. A desirable shrub I allow to grow on my lot on unmowed areas. They like shade.

When I ran a small town parks department, we would order two kinds of mulch, landscaping and playground. Playground mulch is different in that it's cut/chipped different to lay different and not have the pokey bits or big lumpy bits that many landscaping mulches can have. We did have retaining rails around playground areas to help keep the mulch in that area. Three of the parks had playgrounds, including a little childrens park. Each park took a truckoad or two to refresh every 3-4 years. This depended a bit on traffic. The least used park was fine with a truckload every four years, the childrens park tended to need 1-2 loads every three years, and the biggest and most used one needed a couple truckloads every three years. Sometimes it could be put off till the spring of the next year after the next town budget got approved. I never tested the mulch myself, just observed lots of kids using the equipment and working with my guy on replenishment schedules for various things. Depending on the age of your kids, you might only want mulch for a few years. I can understand if you have little ones. But by the time they are hitting double digit age they are pretty sturdy without needing mulch so much. Just observations again, but older kids fall down a lot less than little ones. Another alternative if you can is do a deep sand court. Some places have groomed volleyball courts of deep soft sand. That is also a kid friendly outdoor surface. It's water free. Might be cheaper than wood mulch out in Vegas.

What is a "modern rock"? A fake rock or a carved rock sculpture?