Check this out----if money was no object

[taherrmann4]

Pine straw is just pine needles that you buy in a bale. It is big in the south and can purchase here as well. I bought some when we were coming home from florida last spring, put about 20 bales in the back of the pickup, probably looked like hillbillies, a truck with kayaks on top, bikes in the bed, with a cooler and 20 bales of straw piled up.​

 

[fishin4cars]

Pine straw is common here and I use it regularly, it intangles in itself so well that it actually forms a mat around the plants, It's lighter so you can work with it easier than mulch, but IMO stays in place better and doesn't float nearly as bad as most mulch products. It comes in bails not plastic bags, just a few strings to pick up and put in your pocket as you go along instead of fighting with bags blowing everywhere. Another benefit of pine straw is it decays slowly and is a natural weed barrier. The biggest drawback is there are some plants that are sensitive to the sap. Most of those types of plants may be equally as sensitive to cyprus mulch as well. Also its a good idea to wear some type of Garden gloves and a light long sleeve shirt when spreading. Simply to avoid getting poked by the tips of the needles. I break out if I get more than just a few pricks from the straw, wearing gloves and sleeves completely stops this and makes for a more pleasent evening after a day of work in the yard.....

 

[addy1]

Country mix the seed with sand, then walk on it to set it firmly in the dirt. I will be spreading mine soon. I toss it out by hand rather than a spreader.

My mulch comes by the truckload...........no plastic bags to mess with and not too expensive that way.

 

[j.w]

We prune our Doug fir tree limbs every once in awhile and use a chipper machine to make our own mulch. Have also used fir tree needles and lots of other chopped up stuff. All seems to work well and keeps the weeds down and helps keep the plants roots moist in summer and others protected in winters cold.

 

[CountryEscape]

Addy, I didn't think about putting the seed down this time of year to let it "rest" until spring, and so the area is not prepared for it. I need to spray Roundup to kill everything first. Oh well, next spring will have to be soon enough. Need to get the tiller worked on this winter so it will start in the spring.
I have a very large pine tree (just one) and it has tons of needles under it. I guess I could gather those and spread them around some of my plants. Sounds like a really neat idea.

 

[fishin4cars]

CE, if you have azalea's, Camellia's. Hydrangea's, or Rhododendron's they all seem to like pine straw very well. It's very common down here to see people with pine trees that plant azalea's and Camellia's right around the trunks of pines so they can rake the needles back up around the plants easily and they really grow very large. some of the bigger azalea's around here can be over 7' tall and 15 feet around!

 

[mogsie]

yeah f4c, thats because the pine needles will aid in the acidity of the soil, which azaleas, Camellia's. Hydrangea's, and Rhododendron's all love, being acidic plants themselves !

 

[addy1]

Addy, I didn't think about putting the seed down this time of year to let it "rest" until spring, and so the area is not prepared for it. I need to spray Roundup to kill everything first. Oh well, next spring will have to be soon enough. Need to get the tiller worked on this winter so it will start in the spring.
I have a very large pine tree (just one) and it has tons of needles under it. I guess I could gather those and spread them around some of my plants. Sounds like a really neat idea.

When you plant in the spring, unless you have a nice rainy spring, make sure you water the seed until it gets about 4-6 inches tall. After that leave it alone. Our summers and springs have been so dry recently, with seeding in the fall, the plants get going and make it through the dry summer.

 

[Oldhead]

To threadjack this thread back to its original post. Those are some amazing fish and some cool filtering systems.