I bought 4 bags of small bark chippings from my Happy Place. Together Mum and I cut a piece of polythene to cover the triangle of ground behind the apple tree and pinned it down with staples. The cleared triangle worked out to be pretty accurate 🙂 We put down a thick layer of chippings from two bags, ready for the blackbirds to kick them about.

Later in the day I planted the displaced flowers and spread another bag of chippings among them in front of the tree.