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04-09-2015, 11:50 AM
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1,325 posts, read 2,963,087 times
Reputation: 1977
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I recently moved to SC and notice they use a lot of pine straw here as mulch. Can anyone tell me the advantages of using this instead of the shredded I am use to in the North?
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04-09-2015, 01:04 PM
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Location: Charlotte, NC
4,761 posts, read 6,680,121 times
Reputation: 5295
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It's not really used as mulch. Pine needles are more for decorative purposes. I still have plenty of weeds popping up through the pine needles where I have relatively few with mulch. Pine needles are also VERY easy to come by in NC and SC, in other words, free.
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04-09-2015, 01:08 PM
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2,600 posts, read 6,615,020 times
Reputation: 2453
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04-09-2015, 01:09 PM
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Location: Greenville
557 posts, read 734,463 times
Reputation: 442
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Pine needles are cheap and sometimes free compared to mulch.
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04-09-2015, 01:22 PM
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1,061 posts, read 833,032 times
Reputation: 2094
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Pine needles break down a lot slower than mulch. After 5 months of afternoon showers and 90+ temps, mulch has basically turned into dirt whereas pine needles are still pine needles.
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04-09-2015, 07:46 PM
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Location: Aiken, South Carolina, US of A
1,777 posts, read 4,062,677 times
Reputation: 3610
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Pine straw is awesome! On some plants!
Any plant that appreciates acidic soil loves pine straw!
Gardenias, rhodos, azelas, camellias, and it is everywhere. And it's not expensive.
It allows plenty of rain water through, keeps the ground nice and moist, and the worms are
drawn to it, which is a good thing.
It all depends on the "look" you are going for.
If you have a lot of pines on your property, just don't rake the pine straw up, oh by the
way, japanese maples LOVE pine straw, free mulch.
The will sell it at HD and Lowes too, usually early spring and fall, I don't have to buy it,
I just don't rake and it covers what I want mulched.
I use the fancy mulch on other beds, it depends on the look you want.
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04-10-2015, 05:56 AM
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Location: Over yonder a piece
3,974 posts, read 4,934,968 times
Reputation: 6344
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The only reason I don't use pine straw is because it can attract snakes due to the dense coverage a thick layer allows. Mulch doesn't hide snakes.
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04-10-2015, 07:31 AM
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3,339 posts, read 7,927,242 times
Reputation: 4267
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Yes, it IS used as something other than decoration, and it's a very good mulch.
If it were available here in KS, I'd have it in a heartbeat. Our local arboretum and botanical gardens uses pine straw mulch, and not just for decoration. They have it shipped in, obviously in enormous quantities, so it's available to them.
Here is a very good pieces on it from Texas A&M University Extension:
http://essmextension.tamu.edu/pinest...raw805-111.pdf
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04-10-2015, 07:51 AM
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Location: Floribama
15,905 posts, read 33,058,974 times
Reputation: 15211
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Pine straw looks much more natural than mulch. When it starts looking bad simply rake it out into the grass and mulch it up with the lawn mower.
Longleaf pine or Slash pine looks best though, I don't really care for Loblolly needles used for mulch.
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04-12-2015, 08:40 PM
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Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
36,502 posts, read 45,658,192 times
Reputation: 47513
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laughed out loud at the statement pine straw isn't mulch. Tell that to the foks in Atlanta. Pine Straw is so plentiful and cheap in that area cause it comes mostly from South Georgia. I used to have the same crew come every spring and i could buy 50 tightly wrapped bales. it looks so good when it is freshly spread. But be sure to keep it away from house foundation cause dry pinestraw can get on fire and do some real damage. Here in N.C. I don't see much pinestraw and now i like the hardwood mulch which is presently on sale at Lowes.
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