![]() Pine straw and other mulches are effective at smothering weeds. There are certain creepers and grasses that are difficult to eradicate by hand, hence covering them with a thick mulch helps to smother them. I have used thick layers of pine straw to kill some pretty noxious weeds in my garden. Yes – the thicker the layer the more it inhibits weeds. In this regard, you can add it to any part of your garden and not fear some wild pH swing that will change your soil ph. There is however very little evidence to suggest that pine straw has any effect on soil pH at all. There is an urban legend that pine straw makes your soil acidic! In fact, I believed this until very recently and used to use pine straw on my tomato and potato beds to make the soil acidic for these plants. It contains useful fungi, bacteria, and creatures that will activate your pine straw mulch layer. It is high in nitrogen and decomposes naturally, making it a great fertilizer for plants and shrubs A pine straw covering adds beauty to your landscape while deterring weeds. Hence do not remove the lower layer of mulch. Pine Straw Nature’s Perfect Groundcover Consider pine straw a high quality bedding material for your trees and plants. Nope – as we have already shown, pine straw is mulch. If you have an inordinately huge supply of pine straw you can use a hay/manure fork to spread the straw.Ĭheck Price on Amazon Do I Need To Remove Pine Straw Before Putting Down Mulch? The more the better, however, so do not be shy! Mulch layers have no real upper limit, just a lower limit – if they are too thin they do nothing. We have answered the question “can you put pine straw over mulch?” in this regard, if you are spreading pine straw over an existing mulch layer, you can spread a smaller layer of pine straw at about 3 inches if you do not have enough straw. I just do this by hand – I grab bunches of the straw and spread it to create a layer that is about 4-6 inches deep. A garden waste removal company drops bags of leaves from people’s gardens at my gate, and if it is pine straw, I put it over my existing mulch layer and it does wonders for the soil. I regularly use a few tons of pine straw a year in my garden. We have shown that pine straw in mulch, hence to answer the question “ can you put pine straw over mulch?” the answer is quite simply yes! It will just break down and become part of the mulch layer. It protects the soil from sunlight, helps to retain moisture, and feeds a community of microbes that include bacteria (fixing nitrogen), fungi (breaking down complex organic materials into humic substances), and larger creatures such as earthworms and woodlice that help to feed the soil and aerate it. This is typically a layer of leaves, wood chips, manure, and other organic matter. Mulch is a term we use to refer to a layer that we place over the soil. It can come in bags or even compressed bales. Commercial pine plantations can contain a very thick layer of this mulch and in certain places, this is harvested and sold. This forms a thick layer over time and can be harvested and sold. Pine straw is quite simply the pine needles that fall below a pine tree. Read on to find out how pine mulch can improve your garden and reduce the amount of hassle you have with weeds. I mulch my garden heavily and use an array of different organic materials. Pine straw is in fact mulch, and mulch is a layer that you just keep feeding.
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