I think bark chipping and wood chips are fine. They don't deplete the earth much - the RHS say and all my research suggests. The advice seems to be generally not to put chips right up against the plant - leave space. I would doubt it was the chippings that would be the problem.
I have woodchippings delivered by the lorry load. I layer it up with grass clippings and mulch with it after 6-12 months . I reckon I might have used about 30-50 cubic metres of the " compost " last year without a single problem.
I recently bought bark for an established border for some of my ferns but decided to look at the best recommendations and opted for Lidl's own I never had any problems like the verve brand mentioned (I don't shop in B & Q often), it's the quality of Lidl I prefer. The prolonged cold conditions and the wind we've had dried out the soil on the surface and after watching Gardeners world I bought the bark to conserve the loss of water and used it as a mulch. Now as the soil and air temperatures are rising it is tempting to over water to understand what type of soil you have and having got used to working in my own garden with clay soil it holds on to the moisture but after putting on the mulch I have started to look underneath the mulch layer to see what the soil looks like (wet particles will stick to the palm of your hand). Just because its a warm day doesn't mean your plants need a drink of water all of the time the mulch is preserving the water from the surface layer.
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I reckon I might have used about 30-50 cubic metres of the " compost " last year without a single problem.