Allotments 4 All

Hi guys.. I have allocated a patch 4mt x 2mt for planting 6 Red, White and Black currants. I will prepare the ground with a thorough digging, manuring and removal of all visible weed and couch grass roots etc..   

Would it be a good idea to cover the area with tree chippings once planted to suppress weeds?  Obviously the immediate area around the bushes will be left clear so not to suffocate them.

I have chipped trees in all my paths, quite deep but it does the job, it also absorbs wet when we are flooded

I have used fresh wood chippings around my loganberries with no obvious ill effect. I figure they are woodland edge species and as such should be adapted to take a lot of tree debris. I have also used older, possibly two year old, wood chippings to mulch around the raspberries and blackcurrant bushes and that seems to work well. I go right up to the stems, with a couple of inches deep, so if there is a downside, I haven't noticed it yet.

With fresh chippings.....as they rot down/start to decay they use nitrogen for this process. Its a good idea to apply a nitrogen rich feed to compensate.

2 year old chippings should be fine.

We only use it on the paths

We use it over weed control fabric around our fruit, works for us  :)

Only used it for the paths.  Planted low flowering poached egg plants round the fruit bushes to encourage the bee's for pollination.

Thanks all for the replies..  I was unsure whether it would smother them..  I hadn't thought of chippings on fabric so that's the way i'll go.  Thanks again..

I replanted fruit bushes 5 years ago and surrounded them with thick cardboard then covered with bark chippings. works for me.

SOme of my fruit are getting the cardboard+chippings treatment tomorrow... indeed I might see if I can get some more woodchip from the same place I get the council compost.... if I can then that'll be the fruit mulching sorted out (and the asparagus too.....)

Of course the best thing about tree chippings is they make the ideal medium to grow your winecaps.