Bark for flower beds

Well isn’t it a mulch really? So I guess a couple of inches at least

It does eventually rot down and will add acidity to the ground.

I love the smell of it though. Woodland walks and damp moss it reminds me of🙂

The RHS says at least two inches, three inches being ideal.

Ours was put on earlier this year, at a rough 3” depth, it does settle, so some more will be added in the autumn. It’s doing a good job at suppressing the weeds.

I have bark on my flower beds. I spread it just so it covered the black membrane underneath it.

How close is the bark is to your new plants? It’s usually best to make sure that it’s 5-10cm away from the base of perennials and the stems or trunks of shrubs, especially when they are young plants and not yet established. As your new plants are struggling, you could try pulling back the bark around them (if necessary ) to leave clear soil, and then target any watering there directly to the roots.

Oh thanks all. It sounds that the depth is ok but will pull back the ark around the stems of the new plants.

Remove some of the bark around the plants. Depending on the plant, I leave a little space so that the stem has room to grow. In addition, I only put the bark on plants that like acidic soil.

Bark never seems to go as far as you expect - we ended up buying a huge dumpy bag of it and it’s all gone already. BTW although the bags are small, Lidl bark is easily the cheapest per litre. Sells out quickly though, so grab it if you see it. We also use Strulch, which is not as attractive and more expensive. But seems to be better at suppressing weeds and deterring slugs and snails. Also much lighter to carry.

I used bark once but found it basically blew away so never used it again. 3" is said to be the depth needed.

( I've an OND in Amenity Horticulture & worked about 25 years for Local Authorities in their Parks& Gardens)
Bark. It's used as a decorative mulch to
1. Keep the weed seeds which land on the beds - from germinating.
2. It should be applied to moist soil, so that helps cut down evaporation+ lets through rainwater ( or hosepipe in a drought )
3. Decorative, but not too strong a colour that would detract from the colours of the flowers
4. Not too deep, - 45mm/ 1-2 inches max.
Too deep prevents air &moisture getting to the desirable flowers roots
5. Not too thin - the gaps would let-in weeds.
6. Not too close to the stems of the desirable plants - because this would inhibit them getting larger, AND be a potential source of fungal infection to the desirable plants .
7. Just top-it-up to the desired (as above) depth, because good bacteria munch the bark away, in time. One good application, after both the planting of the flowering plants, and the granular fertilising of the plants, and the watering of the plants, -;should be enough from May to October.
8. If you feel the need to fertilise the plants for a second time - you will have to use LIQUID fertiliser - which has to pass straight through the (non-absorbent) bark layer and get into the soil.
9. That's why bark ( non-absorbent ) is okay ....and Wood-Chip is Not Okay - because the Wood-Chip will soak-up & keep your lovely liquid fertiliser ( & water) - and not 'let' the flowers get it.
( I know it might look good & it's cheap- but it's No Good ! )

Sadly I believe cats leave their calling card too. no fun getting it off gardening shoes,