Bark won't affect the soil pH to any noticeable degree @februarysgirl. You'd have to be adding tons of it before it would make any noticeable difference. Raised beds will always need topping up, regardless of what you put on them. Compost will disappear more quickly than anything else
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl Oh yes, I'd pretty much resigned myself to it being an annual task but the less it drops, the less money I'll have to spend on topsoil and the less I'll have to lug about! Definitely don't want to add compost and give myself a bigger problem to deal with next spring!
@Fire I didn't have as big a problem with slugs last year but I'd gotten rid of all the previous years chips. My guess is that a slug or two and their eggs got an unexpected trip to the council's garden waste site 😂
If you make your own compost @februarysgirl, that's a better medium than commercial compost when it's for that purpose. They're different products Rotted manure or leaf mould are also good, depending on what you're growing in the beds.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl Alas no space to put a compost bin. The only locations that could be considered would block access for the hedgehogs and hedgehogs take priority 🙂🦔 The other issue is that the two of us don't generate enough compostable waste and to be honest, I mostly leave the garden to its own devices. I only really clear the dead material in spring, prune the plums/greengage in summer with the odd bit of deadheading. Without a lawn, there's nothing really to put in a compost bin throughout the year.
I have some farmyard manure for the roses and some chicken manure pellets for the fruit trees but that's the only organic matter I use in the beds. Couldn't believe the growth of the trees last year!
That's a pity re the compost bin, but if you can even find room for a few black bags - you can do leaf mould -assuming you have some deciduous trees nearby, if not in your own garden. I have no deciduous trees in this garden, or not any that would produce much leaf, so I get some from the neighbour across from me, and also a girl round the corner, who lives across from the NT garden. The boundary of that, and the roadside verges are full of beech trees
Rotted manure is good though - or the bagged stuff you can buy in many outlets. That all breaks down more slowly.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Raised beds will always need topping up, regardless of what you put on them. Compost will disappear more quickly than anything else
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fire I didn't have as big a problem with slugs last year but I'd gotten rid of all the previous years chips. My guess is that a slug or two and their eggs got an unexpected trip to the council's garden waste site 😂
Rotted manure or leaf mould are also good, depending on what you're growing in the beds.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I have some farmyard manure for the roses and some chicken manure pellets for the fruit trees but that's the only organic matter I use in the beds. Couldn't believe the growth of the trees last year!
Rotted manure is good though - or the bagged stuff you can buy in many outlets.
That all breaks down more slowly.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...