Pine Straw as mulch

[whatnow?]

I'll second any votes for pine needles. I use them mixed with shredded leaves.

I would not expect much of anything to grow under our pine or spruce trees. No light and no water. The soil is bone dry under the canopy. My rule of thumb is, if it is growing under those trees, it must be a weed.

 

[Southern Gardener]

I have a large garden under several tall pines with 2" of pine straw mulch mixed with leaves and I grow roses, daylillies, iris, lantana, lavender and much more! I love pine straw because it holds together and doesn't wash like bark mulch and I get it free!

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

We have a bunch of camellias, hydrangeas and rhododendrons under a few of the pines. They seem to do well with the filtered light and they love the acidic soil. Also a bunch of annuals like the Polka Dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) and Dusty Miller (Senecio cineraria). All the plants are under about 3 inches of pine straw.

 

[mamaspider]

I've done pine straw around various herbs and veggies and never had a problem with it. It's also around my roses, which don't seem to mind, except when it gets too thick (it falls naturally there), and then the stems stay a bit too wet.

j

 

[rebbetzin]

Come to think of it... The year I almost killed my roses with pine needle mulch, I had the mulch at least a foot thick, maybe more was probably "overkill" for the roses.... I was very new to gardening then, and heard that pine needles made a good mulch, so.......... I really "mulched" those roses good!!

I use straw now every summer, and except for a few stray seeds from the straw forming weeds, it works great and I love the smell of the fresh straw.