Bark chippings- any recommendations or are alternative mulches better?

[Huff13Puff]

Thinking they’re going to cost ££££ to do the whole garden. But worried about chemicals too or am I overthinking? Is it worth doing it?

Bumping as I'm thinking of adding wood chipping / bark to my garden to deal with a rather large muddy area for my kids to play and would like to have an idea if they are a good idea or not also

There's some stuff called strulch I'm starting to hear good things about, although I've not tried it myself.

I've used strulch this year (haven't tried anything else previously, so i don't have anything to compare to apart from nothing!). Slightly odd smell to begin with, it wouldn't be good for kids playing on i don't think, and it is fairly lightweight so i find animals dig around in it and move it around, dig wee holes etc... probably the squirrels and birds. But it's doing a great job at protecting against our slugs and snails, and it is reducing weed growth while still allowing plants to emerge. I'm not sure about how well it retains moisture given the top layer is quite lightweight and dries out. I'm happy overall though and the plants all look good.

We got 2 builders sacks of ‘amenity bark’ from our small local builders merchant a few weeks back for about £150. It’s not pretty and uniform like chippings, it’s dark brown and looks like bark iyswim, but a 3-4” depth is nice to walk on (like a carpet with new underlay) and wouldn’t be bad for children to fall over on.

I too was going to suggest calling local builders merchants or nurseries to get a price for a bulk delivery. Usually works out much cheaper than buying individual bags. I've never heard of strulch, but have used sugarcane mulch when I lived abroad which worked very well. Strulch looks very similar.

Local tree surgeons will do bulk deliveries here, for free basically. The6 also dump clippings at my allotment so I bring bags back home.

The council also delivers for a small charge as they have a sawmill.

I find it works well as a mulch.