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Container Gardening

pine bark question for 511 mix

fievel38 zone 6b

11 years ago

This might be a dumb question but anyways can you use the pine bark that's been in a flower bed for a year? We have pine bark nuggets that we are replacing and I figured if I could use them for the 511 mix and break them up. It would save from just tossing them away...does anyone know if this would work as well?

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Comments (2)

myermike_1micha
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
I am thinking you probably could, but then you would run the risk of pests, disease, and then faster decomposition which is what you would want to avoid, the reason why we use the 5.1.1 in the first place...You should be able to get at least a year or two with the fresh bark, but much shorter than that if you use the one that has been on the ground for a while..What I can tell you is that the mulch I have in my beds is loaded with fungus gnats, so please be careful...
fievel38 zone 6b
Original Author
11 years ago
Great point...I never thought of the fungus or the quicker decomposition..thanks.
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