Pine Needles for Mulch

flowerluv_2009

16 years ago

I am using pine needles for mulch in the garden. I have them stuffed around my Christmas ferns. It allows the ferns to stand up a bit and look more atractive in the winter months. They must like the acid as I often see them in the woods growing under pine trees. I would love to use them in other beds where I have hostas to help protect the hostas from the severe winter and also because they give a nice tidy look to the garden during the winter. I am not sure if this will be too much acid for the hostas. Let me know what you think.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

16 years ago

cyngardens, do you mind if I make a few 'adjustments' to your comments?

Rust is one of those diseases of which there are many different, specific strains. Thus, the rust that affects pines cannot and will not infect other plants (other than susceptible pines). Thank goodness, because pine straw is one of the leading mulching materials in the South!

Also....though I love your singing hint, it won't work on snakes. They can't hear. Not one little flat note or high pitched wail. But if you stomp your feet in time with the music, then you've got their attention. They can sense vibrations from fairly long distances. When in snake territory, I always use a rake, hoe, or shovel handle (whichever tool I'm using) to thump on the ground as I walk. No snakes.

But I still think people should sing in their garden. Just because.

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Comments (6)

louisianagal
16 years ago
I've never heard of that being a problem, nor have I had problems with my hostas and use pine needles alot.
nckvilledudes
16 years ago
The pH of your soil is greatly buffered by the materials in it. I don't think that the decomposition of the pine needles is going to affect the pH of your soil that much since as things are composted the pH becomes neutral. Living in the south, pine needles are used for mulching a wide variety of plants and I have never seen them suffer due to the soil pH being affected by their use.

If you are that concerned you might want to take soil samples before you start using the needles, then apply them and wait a few years and then take more soil samples to see if your pH is changed much. If so, you can always add lime under the pine needles, but I think that it will be unnecessary.
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Donna
16 years ago
I put down about five or six inches of pinestraw over every bed I have, both ornamentals and vegetables; paths too. Been doing it for fifteen years. It's ALL good. Go for it.
tsmith2579
16 years ago
If you are weeding around the pine straw mulch, be on the look out for pygmy rattlesnakes (a.k.a.; ground rattler). They love to snooze under pine straw.
cyngardens
16 years ago
I just read an article on this in one of the garden magazines that I can't get enough of this time of year, and the pine needle mulch leaching acid into your soil isn't a problem, since it occurs so slowly. The problem is the pine is a carrier for rust. So if you're mulching something that's susceptible to rust, don't use pine. As for snakes, if you sing while you garden it gives them a heads up and they skedaddle. Happy gardening!