Bark Chippings

[Chuckles]

Something I've never used and wondered if anyone else uses them and what do you use them for.

OH is currently doing a garden revamp, raised beds made of sleepers, slabbing etc etc and came home with a trailer loaded for the next day with 3 ton of the stuff. He was rather cross when I asked if I could have some to try I normally only get odd bits of stuff left over from jobs, if I'm lucky But he relented on this occasion and said " well I suppose while I have 40 winks I wouldn't know if someone had filled a couple of bags would I " So off I went and filled 4 bags roughly 100ltrs ;D He's got to get another 2 trailer loads yet so I'm hoping he parks it up outside the house again ;D

I don't really have a lot of soil showing in the borders and wondered about maybe using it on top of some pots. Then it crosses my mind wether it would be any good to mix in with the soil at some point in some of the dryer areas, would it help with retaining moiture

[Plocket]

I don't use them but my parents do. They use them as a weed surpressor but you need a decent thickness apparently. It looks very nice but you mustn't mind if the birds flick the pieces off the flowerbeds!!!

And yes they should help retain water a bit - anything that stops evaporation from the surface of the soil is a good thing I think

[Amo]

I have them under all the shrubs I planted down the front of the house and it does have to be quite thick for weed stopping. Plocket is right in that the birds do love rummaging around in them though! They do rot down in about a year so add a bit to the soil but I don't think they would retain water dug in. Evaporation from being on the soil, yes.

One of my local nurseries has this latest thing of covering all their pots for sale in bark. It drives me nuts!! It makes a mess in the greenhouse and when you're planting out, you tip the pot over to tap out the plant and it all falls into the bottom of the beautifully prepared hole!! Make a nice topping to permanent pots though. ;D

[Rosefriend]

I use bark chippings on all my tubs (permanent and yearly) for water retention and yep the birds (especially blackbirds) love spreading it all over. Mind you I have found that they only do that to start with - they seem to get bored with the game at some point.

Bark chippings are big time here for gardens and we get it in 3 sizes - some gardens are 3/4 inches deep in the stuff - it is great for weed suppression, water retention or making paths etc. You can even get it in colours which made me shudder the first time I saw a blue path.

I am one of the rose people that is not in favour of using bark chippings around roses and so only use them on tubs. I always have an empty tub ready when I am re-potting something to put the layer of bark chippings in that is already on the top.

All my toms, chillies, beans etc are all covered with bark chippings as well - I find it helps a lot.

The downside I suppose is that it can make things rot if there is a lot of rain and the acid in some tree barks are not favourable to some plants.

RF

[4pygmies]

I have used it quite a lot in a (largely vain) attempt to keep the weeds down. I find they just root in the bark instead...... I think it provides a good temporary mulch though and the birds love it! When my Mum had her massive long hedge severely pruned in the late winter I asked the man not to take the huge pile of shreddings away. He was very pleased not to so I have a rather humungous amount to distribute about the garden. I must admit that it doesn't do much to suppress any weeds but it does make everywhere look quite a lot tidier for a while!

[Weeterrier]

I don't like bark chippings, but that is just me Perhaps I have too much rain and too many birds, but it starts to look scabby very quickly for me.
Of course, I like weeding. ;D