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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?
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.
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.
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.
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:
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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