Anything to watch out if I'm putting this down on a bed? I've got a narrow
raised bed that runs round our back garden (about 2 feet wide), that I'm
slowly filling with perennials. Thought of putting some bark down to
suppress weeds, retain moisture and to fill the gaps till the plants mature.
Wondered if there were any major minuses.

One of the beds has 2 mature fir trees and a lilac in it. I'm keeping the
lilac as a bush rather than letting to go tree like (it's about a metre
high). I still have a gap there that I'd like to fill with something, but
it's obviously got tough competition and is in quite a shady area - any
thoughts? The soil dries out quickly due to the other plants and only gets
sunlight in the morning and evening in the summer. I'd prefer something
with a bit of height - approx 1-2m - as it would provide some screening from
next door. The space is about 1m wide.

I'd also quite like to put in some ground cover in that bed, but the same
issues arise - lack of light and big tough things fighting it.