bark on the surface only will not draw nitrogen from the soil.. just don't mix it in.

I agree. Any wood based mulch (bark fines, shreds, chunks, wood chips, etc) can be used without concern as long as it is not incorporated into the soil. Just rake it away if and when you need to cultivate, plant or dig and divide and then rake back to cover the soil.

Thank you both! Have a great weekend.

I'd add that at some point after shredded bark and wood chips have been out exposed to elements and in contact with soil/other organic materials, they'll eventually not have the 'nitrogen deficit' or nitrogen tie-up.

The nitrogen tie-up occurs because other organisms are bringing in the nitrogen to feed off and break down the heavy and low-nitrogen carbon structures of the wood. At some point there's enough of this that's happened that the need to 'import' more nitrogen falls off. And this is not the point when the woody stuff is completely broken down, just where the process has reached an equilibrium.

A lot of this is fungal action so won't be obvious either.

Unfortunately, no easy way to know precisely when this is (and conditions matter, and what the soil is like in the first place, and some plants more sensitive) - but any wood waste that's been sitting out for longer (eg a year or more) will be much less likely to tie up nitrogen.

(And to reiterate, not an issue for woodwaste used as a top mulch anyway)