Pine straw is not sold in bags. It is typically baled like a small, gently compressed hay bale. This allows for the easy shipping and storage of lots and lots of pine straw. Loblolly or Longleaf pine straw is a wonderful mulch, but there are some draw backs. The stuff I've seen in the big box stores often looks old and dusty to me. Pine straw doesn't last all that long, and the bales should be fresh when purchased. As it ages a bit, pine straw becomes highly flammable, too. It's use has been stopped in many communities along roadsides, rest areas, municipal buildings, etc. for that reason. Much of the economical value of using pine straw is lost as you realize that it had to be applied at least twice a year, if not more. It becomes gray and brittle in the summer sun and not attractive (or effective) as it breaks down. Then, of course, in your area the cost of shipping would be the primary problem (as has been mentioned). Oh, the chiggers and ticks. Has anyone mentioned that, yet. ;-)

I have just purchased a blueberry bush in a 1 gallon container - if I put it in a 10 or 15 gal pot what soil / potting mix do I buy? I am a complete newbie at planting anything so don't even know what the fertilizer numbers mean . Will I be safe to just buy potting mix and fertilizer that says it is good for vegetables and flowers? I have been reading and re-reading all these threads below but don't think I have ever seen pine fines at Lowe's (where I bought the plant) or Home Depot - should I go to a nursery for the right mix to po it in? On the plant container it mentions cross-pollinating with another BB plant - it now has berries but will it need to be outside where bees - and birds, etc- can get to it? The guy at Lowe's said I just needed a Mexican Heather planted nearby and bees will find the BB plant instead of requiring two BB plants. Will it continue to produce without the pollinization? I am so excited to be actually planting something and I love, love blueberries so I hope this will be a success and I don't kill it (the Plant and, my new-found interest in growing things). Thanks for any help you can spare

Amending the soil in pots in easier but watering is more of a problem as you have to water more frequently than in the ground and the sides of the pots can heat up enough to dry soil and roots near the walls. Some people put potted hydrangeas in hot location inside wooden square containers so the outside wooden shell will absorb the direct sunlight and the inner pot will not heat up as much. Of course, you ncan also take care of sunlight issues by moving the pot around anytime you see it getting being hit by sunlight after 11am (ie, I mean the 11am in the hot summer months, not the weak 11am sunlight we have now). Water absorbing small roots are in the top 4" so keep these as evenly moist as possible. Potting mix without aluminum or without aluminum & acidic conditions will produce pink blooms. That is all I get over here too but I am playing around with the amendments. After adding some in Spring, I have to add more again in the early Fall. I let the plant tell me (ie, if it gets iron chlorosis and the leaves go from dark to light green or if the leaves turn light yellow except for the leaf veins that remain dark green). But one Nikko Blue that turned out to be some lacecap get a little more and its bloomage has been purple the last two years. I added still more amendments this year and should notice the results soon as that lacecap is in the broccoli stage and should have open blooms soon.

No one can keep "weeds", unwanted plants, from growing mostly because Ma Nature does not like her soil left uncovered and exposed to the ravages of the sun, wind, and rain. "Weed barriers" can stop "weeds" from growing from the soil, but they will not stop newly seeded unwanted plants from germinating and growing and since those seeds come onto your property via birds, the wind, and wild animals you will have a difficult time stopping that process. Mulches, properly applied, can help with unwanted plant control but are not the total means of control some would tell you because mulches may provide a good bed for those plants to germinate and grow in. In a discussion about mulches with someone yesterday I told them that materials such as wood chips are quite dense and would block unwanted plant growth if laid down at 3 to 4 inches rather than the 6 to 8 inched something like straw would require. However this person will be getting many bales of straw, free, so what to use is not in question. An article in an issue of Fine Gardening magazine on the results of a 9 year study of mulches by two researchers at Michigan State University would be worthwhile looking up at your library. kimmq is kimmsr