A Santa Ana businessman distributing a New Zealand product to help cut playground injuries might have the solution for homeowners, schools, and parks tired of Dick and Jane and Spot ruining grassy play areas or dog runs. Roger Maloney, president of the Mat Factory, is the sole Southern California distributor for Safety Deck, an interlocking system of rubber mats that not only will reduce injuries caused by falls, but will protect and aerate grass root systems and allow grass to grow through without being trampled by kids or pets.

Safety Deck is manufactured from either PVC - for installation over asphalt - or a combination of recycled rubber and ethylene for use on bare ground or established lawns. Though it's been offered in California since only November, it's been around New Zealand - where it was invented - for several years.

If you have kids who play in your back yard with or without the aid of swing sets or jungle gyms, installing these mats beneath the play area will save injuries and lives. Each mat is about 15 1/2 inches square with 1-inch square holes every 3/4 of an inch. They can be installed easily.

The mats can also be cut easily with a hacksaw to fit around any object. When all the mats are laid, stainless steel clips are attached to hold together the tiles.

For many parents, the life-saving aspect of the mats would be enough of a reason to install them. But add to that their ability to allow grass to grow under and through the mats, thus preventing kids or animals from destroying bare grass, and Safety Deck definitely is a yard saver. "The mats act as a skeleton for the surface to protect and aerate the root system," Maloney said. "What people see is thick, spongy grass." Marathon, St. Augustine or Bermuda grasses work easily, he added.

In the playground demonstration at Arroyo Elementary School in Pomona, the mats,were covered by grass in six weeks even though kids had used the area five hours a day, five days a week. And it looked great after all that use.

"The only maintenance needed is just cutting the grass with a lawnmower," Maloney said. "It should last from 15-20 years, and there's a five year guarantee."

At $5 a square foot, it looks like a pretty good bargain.