Can you use bark chip on a sloped garden?

Hello,

Just wondered if anyone could advise me on a ground covering for my front garden which is sloped at about 30 degrees. I used bark chip over a membrane in my back garden and I like how it looks and would like the same look in my front garden but as it is so sloped, I wondered if bark chip is ok to use or will it get washed away in heavy rain? If I need to use something heavier i.e stones, I need an economical solution as I don't have much money.

Any advice will be gratefully received!

 

problem that I find with using bark chip ontop of a membrane is that after time, the bark decomposes and turns to compost .... weeds are then prevalent even with the membrane

perhaps look at using stone pebbles/slate chips .... some garden centres sell 3 bags of stone for a tenner .... there are various colours such as plum or white pebbles ....

you may get less weeds in the long run

 

If you put the bark on a membrane, at 30 degrees the rain and wind will have it away in no time I reckon.

 

Bark is lovely (until you put it in your own garden) as *dim* said after a short while it rots down. When I first did it it looked lovely and smelt wonderful, 2 days later it dried up (shrank) and rotted to nothing in a few weeks, I think the "secret" is to keep adding to it.

As for stones, yes have them, but at a 30 degree angle they wont stay put for long. my garden has less than 30 degree slope and is covered in gravel, every when I feel like it, I shovel them up from the lower part to the higher part, but it is worth it.

Perhaps you could put in some sort of "wall" every few feet? to stop them all sliding down.


By wall I mean barrier, say a thin piece of something that wont rot, lawn edging?

 

hi is there any chance you could level the slop by digging it out?? other then that i used slate Chipings On the slope in our garden hope this helps a little happy Christmas and good luck

 

Hi nikolam74 and welcome to GC,

As you already have bark in the back garden and like it, and are looking for a cheap solution then it's bark you have to go with.

What I would do for your paths is level them by putting in some steps, some old pallets could be broken apart and used as risers, and even as a containing area for the bark itself. When it rots down too much, it can be gathered up and mixed into the border and new bark layed.





Steve...

 

Folly Mon, welcome to the forum, a suggestion. Before you post often its a good idea to look at the details of the post you intend to reply to.

Take this one for example.

nikolam74, who started this thread, actually asked 3 months ago, as with most forums, a post made 3 months ago is old because most have moved on, and the worst thing is nikolam74 only made the 1 post, so any reply is falling on deaf ears.

Happy Christmas to you too.

 

I like that .... however, I might look at planting something between the steps that needs no maintenance or mowing etc

in South Africa, we get a type of low growing evergreen clover that people use ....

I have also seen a purple leaved evergreen plant from New Zealand .... had it saved on my favourites on my old pc before it bombed out, but cannot remember the name of the plant .... hardy and you can walk on it without damaging it

 

Years ago when I was carrying out commercial landscaping at various industrial estates and shopping centres throughout the South East, we would have almost daily drops of wood bark to spread. The loads were delivered in bulk container arctic bodies such as shown below.
The biggest problem that we found when returning to site for maintenance work, wasn't so much that the bark would be washed away from slopes by rain, it was more a case that birds and other animals would have rummaged through it and scattered it everywhere. I certainly wouldn't use a membraine underneath, as to me this looks too unsightly when the bark is dispersed, and in my opinion, bark stays in place better when put straight onto the soil.

 

sorry about this water garden :DOH: not only am i new to gardening i am also pretty new to computers as well thank you for pointing this out an my appoligeise again for this and my spelling :DOH: happy christmas to you regards Nick

 

I have also seen a purple leaved evergreen plant from New Zealand .... had it saved on my favourites on my old pc before it bombed out, but cannot remember the name of the plant .... hardy and you can walk on it without damaging it

Dim.............maybe Acaena microphylla??

 

thats the one ... thanks!

 

Back to bark chips, I love them, I would go with them but as has been mentioned why not try and get some trees/logs and then every few feet lay down a retaining barrier, they look lovely and natural ( especially as they start getting moss etc on them) as in Steve's photos of the steps and they will stop all the bark chippings shifting too much :thumb:

 

The answer is "Because nikolam74, who asked the question in the first place, asked 3 months ago and has never posted since, so its a safe bet will not be replying or reading any advice offered, and they have probably done the job by now anyway.

 

That's fair enough Watergarden, but many other people will benefit from the comments too when they come here and use the search facility. Even your comment is useful, a new member now knows to check their questions in 3 months to see many more replies, and not just the first few days after posting.

Steve...