Comments on: Why I Love Using Pine Needles for Mulch

By: Roblero’s Pine Straw and Mulch

Roblero’s Pine Straw and Mulch — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 11:19:26 +0000

Interesting and Useful.Thanks for sharing.

By: Nick Tedesco

Nick Tedesco — Thu, 19 Jun 2014 18:24:04 +0000

Pine needles? Definitely a different idea for mulch. It’s great to see more and more urban farming starting to happen as well. It’s all about local. Local farming and local generation of energy. It doesn’t get any more local than your roof – solar power is the way to go as well.

By: sproutsmama

sproutsmama — Thu, 29 May 2014 18:43:11 +0000

I’ve never tried pine straw as mulch, but I’ll be interested to hear how it goes!

Here in NC, people say that ticks particularly like to hang out in pine straw. Tick-borne illnesses are a big deal round here, so that would give me a moment’s pause before I tried it myself.

By: Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross — Thu, 29 May 2014 16:43:11 +0000

In reply to Rose. Let me know if it works for you, Rose. We have slugs here, too, and I had the same thought that they might not like the pointy needles. We've had two hot days in Colorado and the tomatoes still seem very happy. Fingers crossed!

By: Rose

Rose — Thu, 29 May 2014 16:37:48 +0000

I agree that pine straw takes a while to break down but I haven’t used it as mulch (yet!). The last two years I’ve been using straw, but I have to deal with some weed growth from seeds left in the straw and the slugs and other things love the damp climate underneath. I’m wondering if pine needle mulch would be a little slower to break down and therefore less slimy and appealing to slugs. I might try this next year. My brother has plenty of ponderosa pines and is constantly raking up their needles and sending them off with the municipal compost truck. This might be a good tip for him to try this year, I’m passing this along! :)

By: Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross — Thu, 29 May 2014 02:51:07 +0000

In reply to Cal. Thanks for sharing your experiences with leaves, Cal. It'll be interesting to see how the pine needles break down this season. I may just remove them and put them back under the pine tree if they're still intact. Do you use a leaf shredder, and what kind of leaves do you generally use? Inquiring minds would love to know...

By: Eliza Cross

Eliza Cross — Thu, 29 May 2014 02:49:05 +0000

In reply to John. Lucky you! Wood chips look nice, and it's great that you get them for free. I really like your blog, too - can't wait to see more photos of your blueberry garden with that nice new fence!

By: Cal

Cal — Wed, 28 May 2014 22:52:09 +0000

I mulch with wheat straw, but I have tried pine straw. My concern about pine straw is it must be removed or I must we willing to be patient with its slow rotting when tilled in. It lasted almost two years after I tilled it in.

Yard leaves works well as long as they are damp to wet when mulching, which prevents the wind from blowing them off.

I have also held leaves in place by covering them with commercial garden cloth that is made to use as mulch

Cal