Keeping beds clear of weeds can be a painful and arduous task; weeds seem to appear as soon as you turn your back. Helped along by doses of rainfall, weeds contrive to take over your plant beds, meaning you have the task of keeping them down or removing them.
One simple way to limit the weed growth and restrict areas where they can flourish is to use bark or wood chippings.
Why Use Them
Choosing bark chippings for use in your garden is a wise choice for several reasons:
- Provides excellent weed suppressant, mulch and moisture retention for plants and shrubs which may be vulnerable.
- Looks attractive and reduces the maintenance of beds and borders where used.
- Can be used in pots, tubs and even hanging baskets.
- Very slow to compost down – just need to top up occasionally
- Readily available at all garden stores and garden centres
Weed Barrier
Using bark or wood chips around the base of your plants serves several purposes. It provides a natural barrier against weeds and will also protect the roots from frost damage in winter or scorching sun in summer. It will also help to retain moisture in the soil, thereby keeping a healthy environment for your precious plants to thrive.
Weed Suppressant
As a weed suppressant you need to lay it at a depth of about 2” – so check your measurements to make sure you buy enough material. Ensure that the chippings are suitable for mulching and not fresh chippings, as the fresh ones will leech the nitrogen from the soil around the plants.
Bark chips are also aesthetically pleasing when you glimpse the tidy spaces between the shrubs and plants in a border.
Try as a Pathway
They are also an excellent alternative for a pathway instead of more expensive hard materials like paving or gravel, giving a different texture and look through the garden. The durability and low maintenance of this material is another advantage.
When using bark chippings for pathways it is advisable to lay a membrane between the soil and the chippings. You can use sheets of polythene or plastic, but you will need to punch holes through at roughly 12” intervals for drainage. There are various grades of weed suppressant fabrics available which are ideal for this purpose.
You will need to lay about 4” of bark chippings for a path, so when preparing the ground make sure the path base is deep enough. There are different shades of wood chip available, depending on the source, so you should be able to find one which will enhance your garden beautifully.
The bark or wood chips come in different sizes and the smaller chippings are suitable for use in pots and tubs to keep the weeds down and the moisture levels up – reducing the need for frequent watering in the summer.
Slow to Compost
Another advantage of using bark chips around plants is that it is long lasting and very slow to compost down; therefore you shouldn’t need to top up very often. Once it has begun to compost down it will enrich and aerate the soil. Bark chips also stimulate plant growth as mulched plants and trees grow faster than un-mulched!
You can buy bark and wood chippings at all good garden centres and stores and reputable retailers will ensure the wood comes from a renewable source – this should be clearly labelled on the packaging as FSC Certified which is the Forest Stewardship Council’s approval that the wood and bark is responsibly produced.
Now you can go barking mad!
