Mulching after using straw for years? (flower, cover, beds, remove)

[Markski1]

I am using mulch this year after using pine straw for years. Do I have to remove the old pine straw before I put down mulch or can I just put mulch over straw.

[arbyunc]

No need to remove the old. It will break down rather quickly.

[Wolf Howl]

Mark - I just actually posted this same topic a couple of weeks back here as well as I did the same thing.

While you CAN put the mulch over it, we found that it took considerably more mulch to cover the needles and so after doing two flower beds we used a metal rake and took up the rest of the pine needles before putting down the mulch. We were using black mulch too though which made the needles very noticeable underneath if it wasn't thick.