I am a novice, but probably not.

You will need to try and kill off the brambles etc. Dig as much out as possible.. I then have used roundup (but you need to make sure it doesn't touch, get airborne or get to anything else in your garden as it will kill other things too).

You will then probably need to get garden ground sheets before putting any bark or stuff on top to try and stop remnant roots growing through!

Heidib is correct you need to tackle the weeds first. The brambles and any perennial weed will need to be dug out before any membrane goes down. The bark in its self will only smooth small annual weeds but the others will just grow through.
sadly there isnt really any short cuts. The better you do it the better and longer the effect.

Remember that Roundup only works on the leaf parts of the plant so there is no point in spraying on the brambles once you have cut them down. I would not actually use Roundup as it is now recognised that it stays in the soil, which was denied for many years. It really is as SBG says a matter of digging and digging, there are no short cuts in gardening.

>there are no short cuts in gardening.

Oh there are lot's of them! :^)

Thanks to all for the advice. I have tried to dig out as much as i can, but with little success. Any short cuts are gratefully received. Ancorman please tell me more ?

Short cuts don't work... You want a nice weed free border you are going to have to work at it! Sorry Anchorman has his tongue in his cheek...

We cleared our new veggie patch of 7 years worth of weeds/ brambles summer 2009 there is NO shortcut. You just have to get on and do it... Sorry, I know the TV gardening programmes imply it is all a breeze - it isn't.

They rarely show the six guys in the background that prepped for the Star's big camera appearance!

"Sorry Anchorman has his tongue in his cheek..."

Not true. There are a great many "truths" about the way we're supposed to do things that are no such thing.

It is perfectly possible to have a lovely garden with minium work if a few basic rules are followed.

Many of the old rules may in theory give perfection but you can get 98% of that perfection with 10% of the work.

I know because I do it in my garden and the 35 others I work in.

I'm not saying that old ways are wrong,most of them are not, but there are methods which require much less work which work perfectly well

So Anchorman how would you suggest Katie tackles the problem?