Is bark naff?

[Leggyfrog]

I'm at total novice. I've just dug out my front garden beds (nothing therejust weeds) and planted large individual box plants like the balls in the picture. What do I do with the space inbetween though - garden is north facing and gets west evening sun only. Is bark naff- I've seen lavender online but does it need sun and does it die in winter. I'm going for a clean architectural look. Sorry I'm clueless!

We have a few spaces we filled with bark out of a want to tidy and clean it up.

If I had more money I would have planetesimals a better groundcover and might still do but for now it’s better than earth

Rectangular beds about 3mx1m with 3 balls like this in each! Currently only earth in between.

The plants came to me free (very generous friend) and I had to plant quick so need to work round the fact they are already insitu - i dont have time or the inclination to constantly weed. I'm thinking bark or a mat and nice stone tbh atm but would love something more natural but clean looking.

Bark is great at weed suppression and looks fantastic. The plastic stuff breaks down and isn't as good (or natural) as bark .

Omg I thought that WAS your garden and was like...why is she coming on here asking for advice with a garden like that!!!

i wish!

go with bark. top it up every year or so. anything else (stones / plastic bark etc) will look a mess soon.

where are you in the UK? the south-east is now infested with box moth caterpillars. they have killed every box plant in my garden. so watch out for them or you won't have any box at all in a year from now.

Ssouthern Scotland - quite exposed but not much snow- is fairly cold but dry.

These are quite old plants - they weren't moved far and came from a north facing garden and similar soil so hopefully have some inherent hardiness.

Monty Don recommends bark so that's good enough for me!

Lavender does much better in sun but doesn’t die back in winter. If you are really not a gardener I’d stick with bark and pay someone to come in to clip it a couple of times r and to top up/weed the bark

My garden has become the neighbourhood cat toilet since I put bark down .

We put some down but the birds constantly peck at it and it gets pushed all onto the grass which was a pain so we removed it

It seems woodchips are now preferred- better at holding moisture.

does anyone have dogs and bark chips? do they eat it? I'm thinking about it but my boy destroys everything....

I put bark down every year in the front garden - it does suppress the weeds a bit - and I like the look and smell - it does encourage something to dig in it though - I'm hoping it's the blackbird but it's probably next door's cats shitting in it 😑

does anyone have dogs and bark chips? do they eat it?
My dogs used to eat bark chips, and birds would scatter it everwhere looking for worms. We now use Gro Sure smart ground cover, dogs not interested in it and stays in place. It's wood pulp and really improved our clay soil and stopped it baking hard in the summer.

If you go for lavender, choose English lavender (Lavendula spicata) not French lavender (Lavendula stoechas) with fancy tufts on top and a wider range of flower colour. You'll struggle to get French lavender to survive the winter where you are.

I use bark on all my beds and around all plants.

I don't think it's the most attractive thing in a garden, but I don't dislike it either, and it looks neat.

It's great at weed suppression and seals in moisture; anything I plant grows like crazy.

Cats and dogs don't bother with it, although the blackbirds are always pecking it and scattering it

I would say no to bark.
I've used it and yes initially it looks amazing.

Then it gets bleached and crap looking from the sun, cats poo on and in it and blackbirds scatter it all over the garden.
It doesn't suppress weeds at all, not in my experience anyway.
It's also quite costly to keep adding a new layer every 6 - 12 months

With a sheet of weed membrane barrier underneath, I should have said.

I have a newish garden and bark has been good on the borders. I just shift it to the side and plant stuff into it. Plants are doing well and it sets them off. It does look a bit naff but it's good for the clay soil and keeps moisture in. Any weeds that come up are easy to see and pick out