I understand your frustration, Kathleen. I have been able to find all of the products (well, with some "authorized" substitutes) for the gritty mix, but have been unable to find the pine bark fines for the 5:1:1 mix. I can't find pine bark mulch or shredded pine bark mulch here. I haven't checked at Walmart, but according to Walmart's web site, my local Walmarts don't sell ANY sort of mulch, just various Miracle-Gro bagged products. None of the big box stores in my area have pine bark mulch; they do sell pine bark nuggets, but those, of course, are way too big. In fact, none of the nurseries in the area at which I have checked sell pine bark mulch, either - it used to be available, but I haven't seen it in the last few years. Shredded cedar mulch seems to be the mulch of choice around here - there's plenty of that! I haven't been able to find any sort of pine bark soil conditioner, either. I guess we both just live in the wrong parts of the USA to make finding the supplies easy - or even possible! And the cost of shipping if ordering supplies on line would be prohibitive - I can't even contemplate doing so because I don't have the $$$ to spare. I have read some posts where people say that the Repti-Bark can be used for both mixes, but this product is definitely not partially composted so I have my doubts that this is what Al meant should be used in his 5:1:1 mix. Here is a quote from a post Al made in 2009 in reference to the bark in this mix: I like bark best, and the best size for the 5:1:1 mix is sawdust to 1/4" pieces and partially composted, with most of the particles concentrated in the 1/16-3/16 size. I'm NOT suggesting you go out looking for bark that fits this description, but it will give you an idea of what works best. Sigh. Holly

Wood takes forever to compost down so the quickest method is to turn it into as small pieces as you can. The more faces, the quicker breakdown. Hardwoods take longer to break down than softwoods. Shredding the wood is a good way to help decomposition and you can add some nitrogen to the pile to help since the normal breakdown of material uses nitrogen. Its good to add a couple handfuls of high nitrogen lawn fertilizer in any case to the pile. Don't make it sawdust and then pile it in. Normal mulching of 2" - 4" max makes for good results; more than that, you risk denying sufficient moisture and oxygen. Turn your pile regularly--depending on what you put into it but grass clippings will heat it up as fast as anything. Dampening is a must---but not wetting. Being in the warm climate will help over what happens to a northern pile where cooler temps can slow things down.

How fast any type of mulch might be digested will depend on how active a Soil Food Web you have as well as the type of material presented to them. The smaller the particles are the faster they will be digested, so a fine shredded bark mulch could be digested much faster then a course lumpy wood chip mulch. When used as mulch no high carbon material, such as bark fines or wood chips, should cause the soil Nitrogen levels to be tied up in the digestion of that mulch, that digestion should be a relatively slow process compared to what tilling the same material into the soil would be. I have not seen soil N depletion in any beds that I have mulched to the contrary I have seen plants that I have mulched with high carbon material turn a deeper green and grow much better after mulching because the soil is now evenly moist and the soil bacteria are bette able to feed the plants what they need for proper growth. Any vegetative material used for mulch will, eventually, supply organic matter to the soil as the Soil Food Webs works on and digests that material.

Thanks for the input! In the past we always ordered the shredded bark mulch, 25 yards or more, in early May. That was really a labor intensive job. This year, being that we waited so long to apply the mulch; the gardens are filling in with ground cover, the Shrubs are larger, the Perenials are larger, at last...the plants are taking over. I remember my Grandma telling me "First year they sleep, second year they creep, third year they leap!" If it is easier (less work) to spread the pine straw then I am all for it. We will be grinding it all up again in the Late Fall, Early Winter with the leaves from 14 large Oak trees...and reapply as winter mulch to enrich the soil. I think we are "Crazy" To work so hard!.........But it seems to be paying off!...........Dianne