Should I cover the soil between plants?

[gruffalololo]

I recently cleared out some mildewy pulmonaria from this patch and planted some new things. I've left space for the new plants to grow, so there's currently a lot of exposed soil in this area. Should I be covering it with bark or something to discourage weeds? Or do anything else to it?

Thank you!

Bump! 🪴

It’s obviously a shady area, so why not plant some Crainsbill geraniums ( the permanent ones) there are lots of varieties, they have long flowering seasons and would brighten up your border.

Meant to add there are small varieties such as Elkie, than would not swamp the plants that are already there.

Do you mean plant the geraniums between the big plants? Would they not fight the big plants for nutrients and root space?

Lovely fern! I'd cover it with bark and then plant some bulbs in autumn to fill it in. They'll grow just fine through the bark.

Thank you! The fern is lovely indeed, though when the new fronds were unfurling earlier this year it looked absolutely dreadful - all grey/brown and gone off.

So would most people cover with bark then? Is it necessary or just for aesthetic reasons?

A layer of bark helps keep moisture in the soil when it's hot and dry. It also keeps weeds at bay. I still get dandelions and other bigger weeds in my flower bed but the smaller spindly ones that made up 80% of the ground cover in my flower beds haven't come back. I have particularly poor clay soil so I did a layer of fresh compost, watered it, then did a layer of bark. The anemone corms I planted in the soil are growing through the layers just fine.

I dont bother, the pulmonaria will grow back surprisingly quickly. If i have any spare compost or old used potting compost i might sprinkle it there but I think bark mulch looks very municipal personally. Or sprinkle some pretty seeds like love in the mist to give a lovely background. Or forget me knots, because they look so lovely in the spring.

I also chop back my old fern fronds in early spring so I can see the new growth coming. And did you know you can divide them like a hosta - i did a brutal divide of a lovely one this winter and now I have two lovely ones.

If you do mulch with bark or anything else like garden compost, advice is to do it after rain to stop the moisture evaporating, not before rain, when it’ll be more difficult for eventual rain to permeate the dry area.

Thanks for the tip re rain! I think RHS says to mulch in the autumn, so perhaps I'll do that.

I didn't know you could divide ferns! I'll investigate 😊 thank you!

@LadyGardenersQuestionTime was your fern previously potted or in the ground? Mine's in the ground and pretty established. Not sure I'd want to dig it up to divide it - I'd be afraid of killing it!

@gruffalololo I was nervous but I'd seen Monty do it so I took my courage in both hands. Did it late winter, cut back the fronds, saw there were two centres. Dug it out, split it so each half had a centre - it was quite a hatchet job - and replanted with home made compost + a good water and an apology. Both have come up this year - they're bit swamped in this photo, one behind the stray blade of grass and one to the right behind the astrantia and Japanese anemone (there is more of it than that). I'm delighted!

They're thriving! I'll look for a video of Monty doing it, and give it a go this winter! Thank you 😊

Love the idea of you apologising to your ferns @LadyGardenersQuestionTime 🤣

I haven't divided mine but it's an ostrich fern I planted last year and it made a little baby fern about 8 inches away this year. I wasn't sure it was going to come back again about 6 weeks ago and then suddenly there were two. Sadly my massive cat has been sleeping on top of the baby fern so I'm not sure it will survive.