| By :
Victoria Gates
If you live in the southern states and are looking for a superior environment friendly bedding material for the trees or plants in your landscape consider using pine straw. Pine mulch is an all natural product which is high in nitrogen. When pine straw decomposes it makes a fantastic rich with nutrient fertilizer for garden plants and shrubs. A covering of vibrant pine straw adds natural beauty to your landscape while still being one of the best mulches to deter most weeds in your garden. Pine straw is almost 100% insect and rodent free, adheres well to slopes, and will not wash away easily during heavy rain storms. Pine Straw is also eco-friendly and easy on the environment. Pine mulch is commonly used by professional landscapers, in parks, nurseries, on golf courses, and of course by many home owners. This natural mulches popularity continues to grow! Spreading pine straw is easy and adds beautiful color to an otherwise boring landscape and pine mulch also makes a great fertilizer for plants. It is easy to see just why pine straw has become such a popular product as the finishing touch for a beautiful enviable garden. Pine straw also helps to keep vegetables such as squash, melons, and strawberries from forming mildew, mold, or developing rot. Overall soil health is also improved with the use of pine straw. There are many reasons for using pine straw as mulch in a landscape in the south. It enhances the beauty of any landscape by providing a cover of uniform color that is neutral and non-detracting to plants. Pine straw conserves soil moisture by reducing water evaporation from the soil. Weed and grass problems are fewer when the straw is applied correctly and prevents undesirable seed germination year-round. Pine needles interlock, which keeps the wind and rain from washing or blowing away the topsoil easily. Pine mulch is also easier to handle and lighter per cubic foot than other mulches. One of the pine straw delivery companies that deliver to Georgia boasts that just one bale can cover as much area as 60 cubic feet. As pine needles break down they also help to acidify the soil slightly making an excellent landscaping mulch for acid-loving plants, trees & shrubs such as camellias, azaleas, hydrangeas, fuchsias, gardenias, ferns, dogwoods, magnolias, holly and all evergreens. "Maybe you've avoided using pine needles in your garden because you've heard that they'll acidify your soil. Well, when Clarence Johnson, Ph.d., State College in Georgia tested the pH of soil in plots that had been mulched for 2 years with 3 inches of pine needles, they found that the soil remained at about the same pH (a near neutral, garden friendly 6.8) that it was when they tested it before any of those pine needles were applied. Those needles were also great mulch! Eggplants mulched with pine needles produced 20% more fruit than plants that were grown with no mulch at all." Excerpt from "Organic Gardening" July-August: 1997. V44. n6 p.5 Complete Guide to Organic Mulch, by Scott Meyer.
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