"Sue Begg" wrote in message
...
In message , Mike Lyle
writes
Sue Begg wrote:
[..]
Thanks to everyone for your replies. At £40 a cu metre I am having
to
do a lot of sweet-talking to hubby but at least I am clearer of
what
the options are now

While you're sweet-talking, consider why you want the stuff in the
first place. It looks awful, and has no nutritional value. Earth
should be covered with plants, not refuse the Forestry Commission's
desperate to get rid of.

Yes I do agree with you and in a couple of years it will be, but it is a
garden in its first year. The bed is about 35m x 4m and already has over
300 assorted shrubs and perennials in it. (It is probably overplanted
really) but at the moment it has enormous amounts of bare earth and
because the ground has never been garden before, I am getting the last
50 years accumulated seeds all seeing daylight and germinating. In the
space of a couple of weeks it has sprouted a fine crop of rape seed :-((
The bark is the only thing I can think of to keep me sane while waiting
for the plants to spread and cover it. I don't want to put anything too
permanent on as I know I will have to move, divide and swap plants
around once they really start to grow.

Do you want the bark chips just for mulching or is visual appeal a factor.
It seems to me that you would save a bundle by getting contract mulch rather
than bark chips.

What part of the country are you in by the way?

Steve