# Putting down bark in garden



## slookie (11 Jun 2009)

Can anyone help please. We moved into our self build at Christmas and am doing up the outside now. Along one side of the house there is a strip of garden with made up soil (ie it wasn't there already), if that makes sense. It is about 2 foot wide, with kerbing to the front, post and rail fencing to the back, and lime trees in the middle at every second post. We have a load of bark ready to put down on top of this. Do i need to put plastic down first to stop weeds from coming up. I have clear plastic, or does it have to be black? Or do i need to put it down at all...would a quick weed do now, and then fire it down? All advice appreciated


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## Sherman (11 Jun 2009)

Put down special weed-suppressing membrane - it allows water to drain through while still blocking weeds from growing through it. Plastic sheeting will prevent water getting to the roots of your lime trees. Incidentally, if your lime trees are newly-planted they'll need regular watering which will be very difficult if you lay plastic sheeting down.


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## slookie (11 Jun 2009)

Ya they are only planted maybe 2 months, and there are red ones aswell...can't remember the proper name for them Didn't know that...thanks. Would I be better off not putting down any membrane....spotted on another thread that you shouldn't put it down with bark???


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## Clarelassie (11 Jun 2009)

If you put the membrane down with bark, you will get weeds growing on top of the membrane as bark rots down. Either go with membrane and stones or no membrane and bark ( which you top up at least once a year or every 6 months).
Personally I would prefer the bark option as then you can plant some nice bulbs for spring around without having to cut the membrane. 
If you put down the bark thick enough you will have no issue with weeds after the first few months ( just pull up the ones that have already started with their roots).


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## Tomodinhio (11 Jun 2009)

Put down the bark without any membrane, put some compost down first to get some nutients into the soil. Then put the bark down on top of your soil, the bark itself should help keep any weeds down. any weeds that do show up just keep pulling them up and they will eventually give up and die.


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## PADDYBOY99 (12 Jun 2009)

I put down membrane, covered by bark, in a large section of my garden a few years back and failed to put it down in another section. I would recommend you put down the membrane where possible as it saves a fortune of work up the road. You can poke all the bulbs you want through the membrane after.


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## Vinnie_cork (12 Jun 2009)

Just a warning. If you or your neighbours have cats the cats will love the bark to poo in. Its like a giant litter box for them.

I put some down last year, and removed it in May this year due to rot & smell & weeds. I replaced with membrane & stone.


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## Caveat (12 Jun 2009)

Vinnie_cork said:


> Just a warning. If you or your neighbours have cats the cats will love the bark to poo in. Its like a giant litter box for them.


 
Also, two words: _crunchy woodlice._


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## VOR (5 May 2010)

Noticed this thread and I just hope some one can help me with a query.

I bought 100metres of weed suppresant. I have dug most of my garden and have about 30 plants ready to go down this weekend. 
There's also 80 metres of beech hedging which I would like to lay bark under.

I priced some bark mulch and have two options. 
1) My local garden centre will deliver 3000 litres for €220. They say it will cover 50 metres. So two loads will keep me going for the new plants and I'll just continue to weed by hand around the beech. €440 in total and plenty of evenings pulling weeds.

2) I got the name of a company who have bark as a bi-product. They will deliver an entire tipper lorry load for €400. That's enough to do every job I need. Problem is it is "untreated", whatever that means.

I have to call up to see the stuff before buying so I am wondering what exactly is the difference between what the garden centre has and what this forestry company has? 
Is the "untreated" stuff any good? 
I have every intention of placing bulbs around the beds. Seeing as I will have an entire lorry load of the stuff will I still need to put the sheeting under it or should I just layer it heavily? I can return the weed suppresant and save myself €75.


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## flowerman (14 Nov 2014)

On regular occasions New Builds and Builders tend to leave alot of building rubble and crud in the grounds surrounding the newly built house.So the 1st thing to do is check the actual quality of the ground and soil below your feet.Dig down a good 12-15 inches to see what is really under your feet.No point in planting lots of lovely trees,shrubs and plants if you have only have 1 inch of topsoil on the surface but 11 inches of builders rubble and crud below.

Also if a builder mixes up all the subsoil with the topsoil he originally dug out and throws it back in,then all he has done is ruin the ground and new plants and shrubs will not take in subsoil.
Soil quality and soil structure is vital to how successfull a new garden establishes and grows.You need a good 8-10 inches of propper topsoil to create and plant new gardens.You also need to take into account if you need any manure and grit added in,depending on ground conditions and plant types you are planting.

If you take the time to plan out a garden space and plant ground cover plants and shrubs,then theres no need for Mypex,as Mypex can actually be bad and surpress plant growth and plant spread.Mypex will also prevent the spread of tuborus plants,flowers and bulbs and rhizome type plants and flowers.

Fill the space with suitable trees,shrubs and ground cover plants and you wont have any problems with weeds.Take into acount whether the area is shaded or in sunlight and also how dry or wet the soil structure is in the area.Also whether the area faces North,South,East or West with regards to weather patterns and prevailing winds.
Plan and plant the area accordingly with regards to the seasons and you will be rewarded with a fantastic garden of colour and beauty all year round.
Thats what we did with our new build.


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