what to put over landscape fabric and quality of bark

xyz123

hi

looking to put some landscape fabric in three corners in driveway. Two corners have some plant. Rest of the driveway is paved.

question is what do i put down on top of landscape fabric? is it bark only or bark & compost combination or something else?

is there a difference in bark quality between various shops and if so how do i know which one is better?

ta

lee111s

Bark will eventually rot and blow away. You'll need to top it up every few years. Have you thought about a decorative aggregate?

Regarding compost, are you asking on how to plant things there while still using the weed membrane? Is assume so..

You simply slit the membrane and plant your plants/shrubs/tree and then cover the area back over with the membrane and then cover the membran with your chosen covering

Ianwzzz

Bark looks very nice but will need topping up every couple of years. I have just bought some and there is some really poor bark on sale in some shops. Some of the best I've found was at asda. It is 70 litre bags and cost 4 for £10

xyz123

lee111s wrote: »

Bark will eventually rot and blow away. You'll need to top it up every few years. Have you thought about a decorative aggregate?

Regarding compost, are you asking on how to plant things there while still using the weed membrane? Is assume so..

You simply slit the membrane and plant your plants/shrubs/tree and then cover the area back over with the membrane and then cover the membran with your chosen covering

Thanks. Will look at aggregate. Our drive way is done in black tile effect concrete so will need to find a decent colour for aggregate. Other than cost, does aggregate have any other disadvantages over bark?

Ta

xyz123

Ianwzzz wrote: »

Bark looks very nice but will need topping up every couple of years. I have just bought some and there is some really poor bark on sale in some shops. Some of the best I've found was at asda. It is 70cl bags and cost 4 for £10

Does it just needs replacing or the old bark needs removal as well. Or does bark decompose enough in couple of years so it's not a very big job removing old bark


Ta

lee111s

xyz123 wrote: »

Thanks. Will look at aggregate. Our drive way is done in black tile effect concrete so will need to find a decent colour for aggregate. Other than cost, does aggregate have any other disadvantages over bark?

Ta

None that I know of. I personally prefer the look of a good aggregate. You can get some lovely coloured ones. I love the green and puprle slate stuff you can get.

Ianwzzz

xyz123 wrote: »

Does it just needs replacing or the old bark needs removal as well. Or does bark decompose enough in couple of years so it's not a very big job removing old bark


Ta

I put mine down 4 years ago. All I have had to do this year is put a few bags on top of the old stuff and it looks really nice again.

xyz123

lee111s wrote: »

None that I know of. I personally prefer the look of a good aggregate. You can get some lovely coloured ones. I love the green and puprle slate stuff you can get.

Any particular recommendations for where to get it or is my best bet to get it from sheds?

Ta

xyz123

Ianwzzz wrote: »

I put mine down 4 years ago. All I have had to do this year is put a few bags on top of the old stuff and it looks really nice again.

Thanks. How do you calculate how much is required? Just a guess and trial & error?

Pipkin

We just put purple slate chips down over landscape fabric, looks great. 3 x 20kg 20mm chips for £10 at B&M's, or 4 x 20kg 40mm chips for £15 at The Range. We used a mixture.

Ianwzzz

xyz123 wrote: »

Thanks. How do you calculate how much is required? Just a guess and trial & error?

Just guess.you can always loose a bit if you got too much by making it thicker.