Bark chippings (1 Viewer)

Hi,

I'm trying to make my garden as wild and wildlife freindly as possible, whilst still being suitable for the family. I have some raised beds around which I have feeders, nest boxes, water bath, log piles, pond, berries etc.... so this is where most of the wildlife is found. I am planning to cover the beds with bark chippings to a) prevent weed growth (easier for me) and b) hopefully provide insects with somehwere to hide, and more food for the birds.

Any problems in doing this - I will need to buy the chippings, are there some I should avoid?

CHeers

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

I don't know of any particular types you should avoid, but I've got an idea you might like to try - If you know of a sawmill locally, you could pop in to see if you could get any bark. Apparently it's stripped off when the wood is cut into planks or whatever, and it's not often used so you may be able to get some which you can then shred at home.

We do that up here and we can remove it for free!!! There is always a mountain of bark which they have to pay someone to take away, so we're doing them a favour and recycling at the same time, plus it's only costing us our petrol - 'everyone's a winner' as Del boy would say.

good luck!

Cheers, B :hi:

Hi Andrew,
Cathys ideas a good one..try that. We too got ours free years ago when the council cut up trees in the woods that had fallen in bad storms. They left huge piles of the stuff everywhere in the woods to 're-cycle' so we just helped ourselves.
This was all done before I got interested in gardening and birds..we just got it to stop the weeds from coming up, but I did notice that there were loads of insects crawling around them, so the birds should have a field day!
It has now been well mulched down and has turned a previously hardpacked not good for much soil into a patch of really nice workable crumbly soil.

Best Wishes

Hi

If you can't get free wood as suggested above try to buy the "FSC certified" bark. You know it comes from sustainable forests then.

http://www.fsc.org/

I've heard that composted bark is even better for mulching but I've never tried this or know much about it.

Thanks to all for advice. No chance of getting any free round here. And although I do have local woods, they are not that large and I'd prefer to leave fallen trees for the wildlife. Looks like I'll have to pay for it! I'll look out for the FSC stuff though.

ANdrew

If you use fresh bark or shredded wood on the garden it can lead to soil nitrogen deprivation as it rots down. Something to do with the bacteria feeding off the nitrogen in the soil whilst it is trying to get some food from the wood. This may lead to plants suffering from lack of nitrogen with symptoms such as yellowing of leaves and poor growth. This will last until the wood has been broken down sufficiently for the bacteria to feed off it. Ideally, stack the fresh bark/wood chips for several months to let the rotting process get underway before using them. Alternatively, apply some nitrogen rich fertiliser to the soil before spreading the fresh bark/wood chips.

Dave