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Fruit & Orchards

Blueberries in pine bark vs other bark

10 years ago

The last couple of days I've been cutting and splitting wood for next winter. Mostly maple, but some other varieties as well. While splitting, a lot of stray bark accumulates.

Has anyone tried chopped bark from other than pine, to use as a soil supplement for growing blueberries? I'm thinking that the main reason for using pine bark is that pine is the main commercially harvested wood. It's what is available to be bagged.

The past 2 years, I've been putting maple and popple bark in the bottom of planters to aid in drainage. It has worked very well for that purpose. Now I'm wondering about using it for "in ground" blueberries.

Comments (7)

ericwi
10 years ago
Red maple is mentioned as being toxic to blueberry shrubs, along with black walnut, beech, and sunflower. However, we made compost from maple leaves, Norway maple, for many years, and used this material to amend our sticky clay soil when planting blueberry shrubs. The shrubs grew well, and turned out looking just the same as shrubs that were grown in soil amended with peat moss.
alan haigh
10 years ago
Should be fine if it's aged a bit. Pine is over rated for acidifying qualities, I think.
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You are once again incorrect (this is getting rather embarrassing for you), Best do your homework. People often fertilize adding large amounts of nitrogen so much for your C:N ratio. Some is always lost to volatilization. I guess I should have said some instead of much. It always is a net loss, there I am correct. So please stop making false statements, and putting words into my mouth. You are hurting many users here with your extremely bad advice. I agree bark by itself losses little nitrogen (as it has virtually none!), but we are not talking about that. We are talking about the nitrogen added to the bark and the fact as bacteria utilize the nitrogen to breakdown the bark, not all is is returned as stated. that is incorrect. Some is lost to the air. Nobody I know disputes that except you. I have never seen a study where the breakdown of bark by adding additional nitrogen, that nitrogen is 100% retained, it is not. Chemistry 101. bacteria release the nitrogen as NH3 when they die. Well some of it, to be clear this time. The question was is fresh bark bad to use? Well not really but you will lose some nitrogen so one should take that fact in mind and give a little extra for the composting of the bark. Using composted bark, you don't really need to worry about it. Add normal amounts of nitrogen. You should know that.
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There are pros and cons of each material. By the way, do you mean pine bark chips or the shredded wood that is a by-product of tree companies? (I've never heard of 'shredded' pine bark, is why I ask.) Anyway, there is no question that the wood product lasts much longer....pine bark can last for years without breaking down. Shredded wood decomposes faster than the bark, but will return more elements to the soil as it does so. Many of the tree companies are now using a different kind of chipper that creates very attractive little chips rather than that shredded stuff. Very nice looking. A real plus about the mixed wood chips is that they can often be had for free, as tree companies are very happy to find a place to donate their chips to, rather than pay to have them accepted into a landfill. This is my preferred mulching material, by far. Pine straw deteriorates quite rapidly in hot sun, first losing its color before it turns into dust. Pine straw needs to be obtained when it is fresh or the life span will be shortened even more. Pine straw adds organic compunds to the soil as it degrades, as do all of these materials, but they may be of limited value to the growing plants. Pine straw may need to be refreshed twice a year, which is a pain in the pocket book. Pine BARK lasts longest of all, since it is composed of lignins that even microorganisms can't break down. It maintains its color and consistency for a long time. My personal preferrance, after many years as a professional and now as a (fussy) homeower is the mixed wood chips from tree companies. One good application can last for up to three years before needing a top dressing, in my experience. Probably less in your climate. All three are great at buffering the soil from excessive heat, moisture loss, freezing temperatures, etc.
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yeah it appears there are quite a bit of the actual wood (sap wood?) than bark. i'm assuming the darker stuff is the bark. i ran some through 3/8th inch sift and ended up with more of the bark i think. because it is damp most of the finer bark clumped together so it's a bit hard to tell in the photos. i will head to a different homedepot to see if i can locate something that has a bit more bark. i will be planting in containers, so no native soil.. maybe 50/50 of this "bark" and peat,.. or 1/3 bark, 1/3 peat and 1/3 leaf mold (oak). is leaf mold ok? plants are very small though (3-4 inches tall) so i'm likely going to start them off in a small 1/2-1 gal pot. here is what it looks like sifted (it's still very damp, a pain to sift)
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I used the search box at the top of the page to search for "oak bark" and got a lot of hits, and several on the first few pages asked the same question. Hardwood bark and the wood of any species decompose much faster than fir or pine bark, destroying the soil structure and acidifying the mix. I don't know about redwood, but their stronger and long-lasting fragrance makes me suspect that they'd change any soil's chemistry. That's about as much as I know, but you might try a search to see if someone smarter than me posted a better answer.
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JoppaRich
10 years ago
Conifers typically have more lignin in their bark, which means they'll take longer to break down. Other bark is probably fine, but the medium will break down a little quicker.

In the ground, that's probably not a problem. In a container, it might be.
riverman1
10 years ago
From what I have read hardwood bark is generally not recommended for blues. I would stick with what's proven, pine, fir, and peat.

RM
drew51 SE MI Z5b/6a
10 years ago
I also produce lot's of hardwood bark from firewood. I even had bark breakdown on my firewood. A great compost. I use it as mulch, but not for blueberries. I agree with riverman1 I would not use it.
ericwi
10 years ago
I have mulched blueberry shrubs with shredded cypress bark, and also with arbor vitae leaves. However, these materials were used as mulch, and not as a soil amendment.
alan haigh
10 years ago
A supplement is not the same, necessarily as an amendment. I wouldn't mix any fresh raw wood product with the soil, but if it's spread on the surface like a mulch I think it will be fine. I believe pine fines are aged before being used in a potting mix.

Mixed in the soil I would think any fresh bark would suck out the N. for a period of time- I also believe that blueberries don't care where the organic matter in the soil comes from as long as you manage the pH.

You can't assume that what is needed to create potting soil will carry into what is needed in a general soil mix, where the soil itself dominates and you don't have the drainage confinement of a pot.

Anytime you mix materials with a high carbon to nitrogen ratio to the soil where the carbon is easily available you will likely have difficulty keeping enough N in the soil for you plants.

.

Here is a link that might be useful: C-N ratios of various raw materials.

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