Has anyone got those wood chippings or bark chips that mean you don't have to do any weeding any more?

[ViciousSquirrelSpotter]

I'm thinking of getting some for the area in front of my house which is always weeds because I can't be arsed to weed it. Can anyone recommend a site I can buy them? (B&Q don't deliver) Are there any disadvantages to having them?

They smell BAD when you first put them down - just a warning!!!

Put them down thick or the weeds will just come through.

Trample them down a bit too or they will blow away on a windy day!

Disadvantages .... think cats might think it's a comfy area to poo!

Bark/wood chippings gradually rot away as they would on the forest floor. You will find they need replacing or topping up at every 2 years - probably annually.

If you want it to be really weed free you should consider a special weed barrier sheet thing to go underneath.

Cats like to crap in them.

Stag beetles like them.

They can be a bit mouldyfied and smelly after a while and oooh, what's that word...DANK!

Put a thick layer of peas shingle down instead (still over the weedproof membrane).

Gravel is also better for security as you can here people approaching our house.

Even with the weed barrier sheet tougher things like brambles will come through, so you can't get away with totally ignoring it - as I found out....
Also blackbirds like to turn over the bark in search of insects and they can fling it quite a way onto the lawn.

peas shingle?

Whaddat?

Have already gone off the idea of bark now I know cats like pooing in them and they smell

pea shingle. Gravel made of small stones.

We had some round our borders. We graduated to a 'barrier sheet thing' and 20mm blue slate which is much better.

The weeds still grow a little bit round the edges but nothing like it used to be.

I rang a local builders' merchant (John A Stephens in Nottingham) and asked them for a price. I think it was £85 for a ton (couple of years ago). Paid by debit card and they dumped the bag on the drive a few days later (no need to be in).

Then I disappeared off on holiday for a week with DD leaving DH to do his best

Doesn't work - our front garden was full of the stuff when we moved in, and full of weeds aswell. They just grow through it.
So we took it all up, but a supposedly weed-proof membrane down, covered it with stone chippings and ...

... the weeds still come through. Neighbours have concreted the lot and although it looks vile at least they don't get weeds!

don't do it
you will look like you have a hospital's garden or something

What, the bark or the gravel?

What's the alternative though?

My front garden is hideous. Just weeds. I'm too lazy to pick them. That's why I want something philistine and bad for wildlife.

how old are your children?

can you get them to weed? I've started getting mine to do the front garden (well, it's only a patio but plenty of weeds come through).

Ours were spirited away by resourceful wildbirds in a little over six months

Oh and if they are pine chips, stay away from them if you have allergies/heyfever/asthma as they can bring on symptoms. The oil in the chips can burn your hands when you first put them down so wear gloves.

What are wild birds doing with these things?

Nature is full of unexpected surprises, isn't it!

I just asked the guy that trimmed our trees for a few loads of wood chippings, they cut up the branches on site, then dump it somewhere, cost me about £15 per dump (+- 1 cu meter)

I think they are building nests, or perhaps a small soft play area for their young