Pine needles as mulch for roses?
kentstar
14 years ago
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windeaux
14 years agoveilchen
14 years agoRelated Discussions
Mulching with pine needles:Good or Bad?
Comments (18)Pine straw makes a kind of unique mulch for veggies in that it does not break down fast and so you can't expect to "dig it in" after a season. So as susan2010 said, you need to move it aside to plant or rake it off and re-apply it if you plan to spade up the soil or add amendments or whatever. OTOH it is easy to do that, as it is both fluffy and matted together and much easier to grab and set aside and then pile back on than other more durable mulches like bark nuggets or something. So, in one of my veggie areas that I turn over several times a year and keep very fertile with amendments for things that like rich soil, I usually use shredded leaves or compost for mulch, and I "save" my pine straw for mulching under shrubs and places I don't disturb much. But that's because I have some of this and some of that. If you have access to a large amount, by all means it is a good mulch....See Morepine straw /needles as mulch
Comments (7)Pine straw is used a lot here too (Georgia) and I doubt it makes much difference in the PH. The things I don't like about pine straw is that it breaks down easily, tracks into the house (on your feet if you are in the beds a lot) and really needs to be refreshed every year or even twice a year. I prefer pine bark nuggets. I only use pine straw on hillsides because it doesn't slide down the hill. Are you going to use your own pine straw or buy bales? I would leave the old pine needles and just put more on top. As I said, they break down easily and make good organic material in the soil....See MorePine needles for mulch?
Comments (14)We live in Oklahoma City. I planted loblolly pines down the sides of our land, in part, to use specifically as mulch for our many rose bushes. Roses prefer soil acidity of around 6.5 percent. Pine needles are roughly 3.5 percent acidic. So, with an average soil alkalnity, or an even slightly acidic to acidic soil , pine needles are an optimum mulch for not only roses, but most flowering plants and shrubs. I'm a casual/lazy gardener, which means that I plant perennials, re-seeders, shrubs and tubers/bulbs. My research and calls to my local county extension indicate that pine needles are perfect for my uses. I rake the needles, and spread them around my plants, in places, in long streaks of piles on side beds. This is easy, and nothing else is required! I just do a little patting down and smoothing of piles and I have beautiful beds, almost ZERO WEEDS, and year long mild acidity, as well as nitrogen as the needles break down into rich, dark soil!...See Morepine needle mulch
Comments (8)I have a fairly large area planted in the middle of 20 acres surrounded by farms larger than my property with a lot of rabbits. I've observed them biting off a couple of leaves of a new planting that I reasoned they were checking out something new in their habitat without eating the leaves. We also have more deer than you can count and I've never had any deer problem. There is an argument that mine are rural deer as opposed to suburban deer. Rabbits and deer have plenty of their normal browsing material so they don't bother our hosta. Many in cities or more densely populated areas that have terrible deer problems....See Moremad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
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