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hmmmm, that's interesting! I can't help but wonder if he has soil that is naturally on the alkaline side. Where we are, the soil is known to be acid everywhere.
That could very well be -- I hadn't considered that since I'm rather clueless about pH naturally occurring. I should have mentioned I'm in northeast Florida.
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Flowers can add so much to a house. I have to wonder about people that don't have anything except GREEN. Even a pot of Mums or Geraniums on the porch to add a tiny spot of color would help.
So true! All I had was builder's green, so I added some pentas this year (not a great choice since some did well and others didn't for whatever reason).
... Flowers can add so much to a house. I have to wonder about people that don't have anything except GREEN. Even a pot of Mums or Geraniums on the porch to add a tiny spot of color would help.
Well wonder no more! At least in my case ... I wish I could keep flowers of ANY kind. Once I planted a ton of flowers, one spring morning I awoke to a lovely array ... came home and all the heads were eaten off by deer. I cannot hang my pots high enough either - I've seen 'em standing up and reaching into the baskets. They do not like lavendar at all so I planted as much as I could - some took and are very hearty each year, others did not .. but how much lavendar can you have .. I'd like more of a variety.
Now I am trying to add color with different shades of green. Also, since I put up stakes with a thin mesh around (not really visible from the road) I may put some flower pot hangers amongs the bushes where they cannot get at them. Doesn't make for the best looking landscape, but I would like some flowers.
Audrey Ann - I was going to suggest you visit the thread about deer, but I see you've already been there! Ill be adding my two cents to that thread shortly.
This is my first winter in a house with eight white pines. Which means I now have pine needles-a-mundo. Bags and bags that I've raked up, since it looked like it might be killing the grass. Now what to do with it?
I'm thinking of making a 2-3" layer of mulch in a very large rose garden. The garden has 8 knockout roses, a dogwood, a crape myrtle, as well as an assortment of butterfly bushes, spireas, nandinas, boxwoods, mums, peonies, iris, a hibiscus, and about 1,000 daffodil bulbs (just planted). Since these are mostly acidic plants, my guess is the pine needles would be beneficial and also keep the roses warm (we're expecting a cold winter). But I've never tried it, so I'm a little leery. Any thoughts? Also, would the pine needles hurt my daffodils?
I was wondering about using pine needles too, just wondered if they needed to be treated to prevent getting termites and other pests into your flower beds and around your house?
I was wondering about using pine needles too, just wondered if they needed to be treated to prevent getting termites and other pests into your flower beds and around your house?
I never treated my pine needles, and continue layering them (year after year) and extending walking paths through my flower gardens. Never had a problem. Like you, I have tons of those, thanks to my many long needle pine trees. I've never put them around the foundation of our house, though.
Many a good folk in Georgia and neighboring states make a good living selling loads and loads of pine straw for mulch. I used it for 30 years in Atlanta and never heard of anybody doing anything to it. It is baled by machine and hauled all over the place. It's too expensive here in N.C. or I would use it still.
I was wondering about using pine needles too, just wondered if they needed to be treated to prevent getting termites and other pests into your flower beds and around your house?
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Originally Posted by no kudzu
Many a good folk in Georgia and neighboring states make a good living selling loads and loads of pine straw for mulch. I used it for 30 years in Atlanta and never heard of anybody doing anything to it. It is baled by machine and hauled all over the place. It's too expensive here in N.C. or I would use it still.
If you live anywhere in the mid to deep south it is probably the most common mulch. Like No Kudzu I've never heard of treating it either. Pine straw is supposed to be the least likely mulch to be attractive to termites. The standard advice is to keep the mulch free of the foundation and leave several inches of unmulched ground so that termite tunnels can be spotted.
I always used armloads of pine needles for mulch over the rhododendrons because they have shallow roots and they like acidic soil. I had zillions of pine trees so it was just a matter of transferring the pine needles to the rhodos.
I always used armloads of pine needles for mulch over the rhododendrons because they have shallow roots and they like acidic soil. I had zillions of pine trees so it was just a matter of transferring the pine needles to the rhodos.
Great, aren't they? Benefits for acid loving plants are tremendous. Plus, wheel barreling loads of pine needles is one of my favorite garden chores. My pine needle walking paths wind through my flowers and plantings, leading to seating arrangements and nooks/crannies.
Down here in the deep south just about everyone uses pine needles as mulch, especially Longleaf and Slash pine needles. The pine needles here are typically about a foot long, hence the term "pine straw". The above poster was correct in saying that azaleas, hollies, and camellias thrive in a layer of pine needles. My blueberry bushes are under some pine trees and I get a large crop every year without the use of any fertilizer. There is an elderly man in my town that goes along the roadsides raking up pine straw every year. He bales it up right there on the back of his pickup and sells it.
SNL I am jealous. I have to buy pine straws for my blueberries & azaleas.
BTW, do your blueberries get enough sun under pine trees?
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I cannot hang my pots high enough either - I've seen 'em standing up and reaching into the baskets. They do not like lavendar at all so I planted as much as I could - some took and are very hearty each year, others did not .. but how much lavendar can you have .. I'd like more of a variety.
Great, aren't they? Benefits for acid loving plants are tremendous. Plus, wheel barreling loads of pine needles is one of my favorite garden chores. My pine needle walking paths wind through my flowers and plantings, leading to seating arrangements and nooks/crannies. 
