"Rich" wrote in message
...
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.

A few years ago I got rid of all the stones from off the soil which used
to be my front lawn, then I laid down heavy duty membrane and covered
that with about 2" of 20mm Gold Blend chippings. I then planted my
favourite shrubs/plants by pushing aside the chippens and cutting the
membrane X shaped to facilitate planting and I am very pleased with the
overall result. Now weeds are non existent and I do not need to water
the plants except, maybe, in very dry conditions.

Make sure you overlap the membrane by a few inches to ensure that weeds
do not protrude. Pegs are not needed to hold down the membrane, but it
is advisable to lay it on a windless day.

Regards,
Emrys Davies.