Strange Pine Bark fines find

14 years ago

It's that time of the year for my annual search for the elusive pine bark fines, and hopefully find enough where I can rejuvenate a decent percentage of my containers. Last year was difficult and I had to sacrifice and actually caught a decent sale at Home Depot on those compressed bales of potting mix. But last year I had to scrimp and make do with what I couldn't get. So this year I'm in desperate need of rebuilding a good percentage of containers with fresh stuff.

So yesterday, to my surprise, I wander into the local Home Depot and they had an entire pallet of Golden Trophy pine bark mulch which was absolutely perfect. I loaded up the van with 11 bags. Today I went back to get another 14 bags when I noticed there was another pallet of the Golden Trophy (#302TD) sitting in front of the one I picked from yesterday. This new pallet had the same SKU and product number but the pine bark chunks were much larger and completely unacceptable. I had to climb over that pallet to get to the pallet with the bags I got yesterday. It was a lot of work and no one from Home Depot were around to help me.

I'm kind of confused as how a company can put out mulch like this that can vary so drastically from pallet to pallet. Luckily the good pallet is in the back so no one will pick from that for awhile. I think 25 bags may be enough for me this year (I've already processed 7) but it's nice to have some around in case it's needed. I might go back and grab another 10 tomorrow to be safe.

It seems like all nurseries and garden centers around me (Chicagoland) have absolutely no clue about using pine bark fines to make container soil.

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Comments (5)

katskan41
14 years ago
Wow, that's quite a story. I've very pleased that you managed to load up on the "good" pine bark fines. They keep for quite a while so good thing you bought a good supply!

No idea why 2 different sizes of pine bark would have the same SKU and product number but apparently the size varies quite a bit between product batches. When you find the right size pine and/or fir bark you better load up.

Have fun!

Dave
red_chucks
14 years ago
When you say you process the mulch, mea2214, do you screen it through hardware cloth and take out the big pieces? How fast can you process a 2 cu. ft. bag? Do you have some tips?

I was in the Home Depot on Roosevelt Road last week and found some of the good Golden Trophy stuff--I guess it's what wouldn't fit in your van. [But you were probably at an HD on the North Side.] Most of it is very good for the 5-1-1, but picking out the pieces has been going slow.

red_chucks
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I live in the North-East Bronx, just South of Westchester, NY, and I find that most of the local nurseries, garden centers, and Home Depots/Lowes etc. suck, if you're trying to find anything that approaches an "exotic" ingredient for making Al's growing medium. None stock Turface-MVP, and they never heard of it. I've been to them all, and haven't found anything that could be called "pine-bark fines"...just shredded mulches....that will mat down, and clog the mix. After you factor in the cost of gas, your personal time, phone bills, cost of the products, time used to screen out unwanted materials -which doubles the cost, if 50% is wasted- the mix becomes very expensive. I can't be bothered hunting down all the ingredients anymore. I cut my losses. I just buy premium grade Repti-Bark at the local Pet-Co/Pet-Smart, a 20 lb. bag of aquarium grit, and a bag of Turface-MVP, and make the mix. NAPA Auto has oil-dry compound that can sub for the Turface. Some of the bark nuggets are too large, but, what the hay. Most of it is usable out of the bag. Hit the big pieces with a hammer. Yes, there are cheaper alternatives for the ingredients that I have mentioned, especially the Repti-Bark, but I'm not driving all over the state just to collect the ingredients that I need. Re-read the 2nd paragraph. Just my two-cents worth. The mix is great,...if you could find what you need, EASILY. My Clivia love the stuff, and you can not over-water plants! No PWT either! Frank PS....When the bark breaks down, just wash out the residue, and re-cycle the Turface-MVP, and the grit. Use new bark chunks, and you're good to go. Just the bark-fines break down.
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I believe Al's recipe is 3-5 parts bark fines, 1 part turface or perlite and 1 part peat (would have to go look to be certain). What I am using this year is 2 parts bark fines, 1 part turface or perlite and 1 part peat. I do like this mix (certainly more than the mostly peat mixes from the store) and it retains water quite well (drying too quickly was my main concern since I grow a lot of water hungry plants), but overall I think the next time I make a mix I will reduce the peat as I can already see how the peat is mucking up the drainage. The bark fines actually hold a lot more water than I thought they would and the Turface is also quite good at retaining water. The peat is as well, of course, but it breaks down to muck inside one season whereas the Turface (or perlite) never will and the bark will take a couple/few years to do so. I do like the current ratio in self watering containers though. Probably would keep the mix the same with those.
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tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
Rockin', Mea! ;o)

Hey - if any of you guys in (lost to the Detroit Red Wings) Blackhawk country ;o) decide to make the gritty mix, you can get perfect fir bark at Oak Hill Gardens in Carpentersville, north and west of the city.

Al
mea2214
Original Author
14 years ago
red_chucks, when I said process the mulch I meant that I used it to make my mix. I don't do the 5:1:1. Due to the amount of containers I need to change out yearly I have to recycle soil. I use a more or less 3:2:1 mix which is 3 parts pine bark fines, 2 parts old soil (mixed from last year), and one part perlite with the addition of some fertilizer (which I"m still experimenting with).

The bags of Golden Trophy I got were absolutely perfect -- there weren't any large chunks to sort out. But the batch you got from HD on Roosevelt may be different. I got mine at the Home Depot on Elston Ave. I first went to the HD on North Ave. on the near north side and they didn't have anything there. Home Depot saved me the last couple of years ever since my go to nursery on 4400 something north Elston stopped carrying the fine pine bark. Even when I told the manager there I'd buy 1/2 a pallet from them they didn't seem too interested and now they seem to be concentrating on landscaping and hardly carry anything for the regular gardener.

And Al, now that the Blackhawks are up against the Swedish Olympic team (aka Detroit Red Wings), they might not get a chance to return to Detroit if the Hawks lose tonight and get swept at home. :-)
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
14 years ago
I have several bags (10? or so) of the Golden Trophy "premium pine bark landscape mulch", packaged by US Mulch, left over from a couple of years ago when I found it at HD. It's GREAT stuff .... and cheap!

Al

Strange Pine Bark fines find

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katskan41

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