Pine needles

[nascarnancy]

The first time we bought pine straw was from a gentleman driving by in a truck, it wasn't bad but you do have to be careful as cheeper bales can contain cones, sticks and boxelder bugs which you don't want. Our neighbors only purchase there's from Nicholson Farms and that is where we bought our last batch from and will continue doing so.

[http://nicholsonfarms.com/]

[1234tech]

Planning on using mulch instead of straw for better anesthetic look w home, better weed control and moisture retention, and longer lifespan. BAD IDEA?

What is the best mulch?

[crestliner]

I will warn anyone from buying pine straw from any person riding around selling it from their truck. I made the mistake of doing so only to find out later one of the bails was infested with BOX ELDER BUGS. These bugs are next to impossible to exterminate and come out in the early fall by the thousands. They are a nuisance and jump and stink like hell if you step on them.. All of this just to try and save 50 cents a bail from buying them from lowes...Tell these drive by guys to scram

[aquafish41]

Originally Posted by Native_Son

the benefits:

2. don't require harvesting a tree (although removing needles from a forest floor does have negative effects)

Trees aren't harvested to make mulch. Mulch is chipped up forestry residue. Mostly bark but also tops and limbs. The waste wood would otherwise be landfilled or sent to a biomass power plant (there are none nearby), so mulching is actually a positive reuse for an otherwise waste material. Small companies can follow after loggers and chip the waste up and make a living selling it to larger middle men who bag it and sell it to Lowes, etc.

[Native_Son]

Originally Posted by aquafish41

Trees aren't harvested to make mulch. Mulch is chipped up forestry residue. Mostly bark but also tops and limbs. The waste wood would otherwise be landfilled or sent to a biomass power plant (there are none nearby), so mulching is actually a positive reuse for an otherwise waste material. Small companies can follow after loggers and chip the waste up and make a living selling it to larger middle men who bag it and sell it to Lowes, etc.

With all due respect, I have a very keen understanding of silviculture and related industries.

In real forestry operations the left over limbs and waste are NEVER land filled. They are left on site to provide nutrients to the next round of trees if they aren't chipped.

Don't get me wrong, it's a fine renewable resource. And harvesting pine straw has its own peculiar set of unintended consequences. But one product relies on killing a tree, and the other doesn't. I'm a fan of pine straw. It's what we use around here.

And all the people I know with tub grinders aren't "Small companies [who] can follow after loggers and chip the waste up and make a living selling it to larger middle men". It requires expensive equipment...

[aquafish41]

With all due respect to you, I currently work in the biomass industry, have a bachelor's degree in forestry, and buy waste wood from tub grinders on a daily basis. The small tub grinders and side grinders I work with do indeed follow behind forestry crews and grind the residue. Tub grinders are much less expensive than in-woods chippers, which produce a less grainy chip, so smaller companies often buy them to get into the business then move up to more expensive equipment. Also, if all the slash is left on the forest floor it become hazardous fuel (leading to fires), and therefore needs to be collected and managed in some way. Some limbs are ok to leave and are beneficial, but something has to be done with most of the residue. Mulch is a seasonal end use for the tub ground material. Outside of the Spring and Summer seasons, some of that residue is in fact landfilled.

[FatBob96]

Pro's are cheap, fast and easy to spread and replace.
Don't know enough about insect attraction/repelling so can't comment on that.

Con's (warning: opinion follows)

Too damned flammable in dry weather.
I've always thought it looked like kindling spread around a house and as if to confirm my opinion, half the buildings in my parents condo complex in Myrtle Beach just burned to the ground.
26 buildings with 180 condos that were liberally littered with Pine straw as landscaping are gone.

Yes I know there were other factors that contributed to the fire.....a nearby brush fire spread to the complex on a windy day, dry weather and the proximity of the buildings to each other played a part too.

But there is no way I would believe the fire would have spread so fast if it weren't for all the stupid pine needles all over the place.
Thankfully no one died in the fire but a lot of people lost everything.
And if it had not spread so fast it would have given the fireman a fighting chance to get there a little sooner.

Personally, I'm replacing my bark chips with stone.