Putting down bark mulch in a bed

Galego

Hi,

I need a bit of advice.

I planted laurels (around 13) in a bed, as a partition with my neighbor, and I also put a wooden fence with some posts. I now intend to put some bark in this bed. My question is:

Would I need to put a liner between soil and bark? It would be a bit of a pain if I had to as I will have to cut around the laurels and the wooden post so it will not be very tight.

I was thinking about putting just a thick layer of bark straight to the soil. Good idea?

Cheers.

prospect

All depends really.

A liner will block most growth. Without a liner, weeds will eventually grow through the mulch, but not as vigorously as they would without mulch . Also the mulch will have to be 'topped up' periodically as it will blow away.

I have used a 'liner' of newspaper many times. I lay the paper out around three sheets thick (wetting it to keep it down) and then cover with mulch. It is cheap, blocks most weed growth, allows rain penetrate and it degrades.

But, I generally have to re-do the same areas every three seasons or so.

Oldtree

Liner is a great idea and will save work in the future, imo. Anything other than small chip composted bark will blow away in the wind. Mulch needs to be 2-3 inches thick and spray with water after laying to get it to stick togeather.

looksee

Suggestion for putting liner down round existing trees. First make a collar a around 40cm wide with a slit and a small hole to allow for the stem. put a collar round each shrub with the slit to one side. Then when you put your main sheet of liner down you can cut from the back to the shrub and place it over the collar. This means that you do not have any gaps for weeds to get through, and you do not have to be quite as accurate in cutting the main piece of liner - which can be quite difficult when the shrubs are already in place. Suggest you also have some small sharpened sticks handy to pin the liner down as you go - or maybe there are some purpose made pins available, I don't know :-)

wildlifeboy

you can also do it with a cardboard box cut up into sections. that lasted me 3 years before weeds started to poke through.

The Garden Shop

I would recommend putting down a liner.
A weed membrane or fabric as its called.

I might seem like hard work at first but it will save weeding in the long run.

When doing this makw sure your stanley blade is really sharp or it will be a chore.

When choosing weed fabric go for the heavy one. Witg the blue or green lines. These last longer than lighter fabrics.

You'll need about 3" or bark onto for best results and to prevent bark drying up and blowing away.

Good luck!!!