Works fine. I have mixed it in with hay in the past but others have posted that they use it straight. Takes forever to decompose in the garden but that's not a real problem.

Dave

I use pine needles. It seems to work fine. Doesn't get compacted is what is good about this material.

I use pinestraw to mulch my tomatoes, eggplant,cantaloupe, peppers and watermelons and it works great. As noticed in other post it does not compost easy or compact either but it does a good job of controlling weeds and moisture.
I till my pine straw in and it does rot before spring. I also lime my garden every spring and also take a soil test to control soil content.