It want to put down ground cover in front garden. The garden is about 8m
x 7m.

I'd really like to put down marble or granite aggregate, but at about
£6.00 per 5Kg I think the cost would be too much for me at the moment.

I guess then the only financially viable option is to use chipped bark.
One bag of chipped bark covers about 2.5 square metres. So, since I need
to cover about 56 square meters I'd need about 22 bags. Gosh, at £5.28 a
bag it's going to cost me £116.16. That's still a lot of money.

I don't suppose there is a cheaper alternative than chipped bark?

Do I need to lay down a plastic sheet to put ground cover on? TIA.