Bark vs woodchip

Bark is the outer bark stripped off timber. It is fibrous, fairly uniform in colour and slow to rot, which is why it holds its look on a border.

Woodchip is the whole branch run through a chipper, wood and bark together. That gives you a mix of colours and textures, and because there is soft wood in it, it breaks down faster than pure bark.

Neither is better in the abstract. They just suit different jobs, and the price gap reflects that woodchip is a byproduct of chipping while bark is screened and graded.

Bark is denser and lower in soft wood, so it keeps its shape and colour for roughly two to three years before it needs a top up. It also reads as a proper finished border rather than a working surface.

Woodchip usually knits down and rots into the soil within a year or two, quicker if it was chipped green. That is fine if you want it to feed the soil, but it means more frequent topping up and a rougher, more varied look.

If appearance and low maintenance matter, pay a bit more for bark. If you just want cheap ground cover over a large area, woodchip does the job.

Bark suits ornamental borders, beds around the house and anywhere on show. Woodchip suits paths, wilder corners, allotment surrounds and large informal areas where cost matters more than a clean edge.

Both make a good mulch ring around trees and hedges. It keeps the roots damp and the strimmer away from the trunk. Pull the mulch back a few centimetres from the trunk itself so it is not sitting against the bark and rotting the collar.

For a woodland or shrub area that you want to look natural and disappear over time, woodchip is the sensible choice. For a front garden border you keep tidy, bark earns its extra cost.

Play bark is bark screened to remove sharp bits and sized for cushioning under swings, climbing frames and slides. It is not the same as ordinary border bark or woodchip, and those two should not be used under play equipment.

For play use it needs to go down deep, usually 100mm as a minimum and more where there is a real fall height, so it can absorb a landing. If you need certified impact protection, check the product is graded to the play standard (BS EN 1177) and lay it to the depth that standard calls for.

TopTurf does not stock play bark, so for a play area buy from a specialist supplier. Remember the extra depth means a bag covers far less ground than it would on a shallow border, so budget accordingly.

For a decorative mulch on borders, aim for 50 to 75mm deep. Thinner than that and weeds push straight through, thicker just wastes material. A bulk bag of bark from TopTurf is about 0.7 m3 and covers roughly 14 m2 at 50mm, so measure your border length by width to work out how many bags you need. Garden centre small bags suit topping up a single bed.

On price: TopTurf sells one bark product, premium landscaping bark at £87 a bulk bag. We do not sell woodchip, but tree surgeons and some yards move it cheaply by the load if you are surfacing paths or covering a big area.

Keep any of them on the surface. Do not dig fresh bark or woodchip into the soil, because as it rots it draws nitrogen out of the top layer and can starve nearby plants. Sitting on top as a mulch, that is not a problem.

You can order by phone on 0161 399 8706 or by email for delivery from our Leigh base. Delivery is from £20, priced on your postcode and the load.

If you would rather not barrow a load about the garden, Barrow Landscaping can spread it as part of a wider landscaping job.

Both work well as a surface mulch laid 50 to 75mm deep onto weed-free soil. Bark lasts longer, so you re-top it less often. Woodchip suppresses weeds just as well at first but breaks down quicker, so you top it up sooner. Neither stops perennial weeds pushing through, so clear those first.

Yes, as a surface mulch. Keep it on top and do not dig it in, because rotting woodchip pulls nitrogen from the top of the soil. The only real downside on an ornamental border is looks, as woodchip is rougher and more mixed in colour than screened border bark.

Yes. Use play bark, which is graded to remove sharp pieces and sized for cushioning, and lay it deep, at least 100mm and more under equipment with a fall height. Ordinary landscaping bark and woodchip are not suitable for play. TopTurf does not stock play bark, so check the product you buy meets BS EN 1177 if you need certified impact protection.

Work out the area (length times width in metres) and aim for 50 to 75mm deep. A TopTurf bulk bag of bark is about 0.7 m3 and covers roughly 14 m2 at 50mm. So a 28 m2 border at that depth needs about two bulk bags.

No, it reduces them rather than eliminating them. Lay it onto weed-free soil at 50mm or more and most annual weed seeds cannot get going. Deep-rooted perennials like bindweed or dandelion will still push through, so dig those out first, and some people put a weed membrane underneath for paths and low-maintenance areas.