pine bark as a growing medium

seen lots of references to using it on here and I've seen it in garden centres, but only as decorative stuff, and it looks like muckle chunks of wood. Don't understnd. Is there a specific type?

You want shredded pine bark, and you don't generally use it right out of the bag. Pour it into a pile and let it sit, watering every so often so it starts to compost.

cheers

You can buy composted pine bark in the UK, from garden centres. I prefer to use a better grade of uncomposted pine bark for well drained mixes. It is more expensive and it rots down more slowly. Look for something like Golden Pine Nuggets. I use it as is for largest trees and screen it for smaller stuff. Sometimes I put it through a garden shredder to get a very fine soil constituent, but you have to have eagle eyes to prevent any stones getting in and damaging the blade.