![]() Use them alone or with bark as mulch under fruit trees. They're also a great mulch for many other areas. If they're not compacted, the needles will allow water to seep to the ground and the plants, but a soaker hose or drip system in place under the needles works best. When using pine needles as a mulch in the garden it helps to have irrigation in place first. I also have fewer issues with slugs I suspect the sharp tips and rough edges help keep them at bay. In sections I use pine needles, my strawberries have fewer fungus and mold problems. They stay in place and keep the fruit dry and off the ground. I think they're a near-perfect mulch for my strawberries. Before they're compacted, while still fresh, needles can be slippery when wet so be cautious. Any weeds that do manage to grow are quickly spotted against the brown background and easily pulled out. Rain, snow, my wheelbarrow, and multiple trips through the garden will compress them into a dense mat that keeps weeds in check. After raking up needles, and raking again and again in the same spot to get as many as possible, I place them in thick layers on my garden paths. The first place I use pine needles is on the pathways between my vegetable garden beds. An area that's big and needs to be filled with something that will last a long time. An area where you want to choke out the plants that may grow there. Think about areas of your garden where you want a mulch that stays in place and won't blow away. I see all three of these negative aspects as advantages for using pine needles in the garden. Burning them is rarely an option for many people, so you're left with piles of needles that take up space. You can add them to your compost pile, but after everything else has broken down and turned into lovely, black compost, the needles will still remain intact. Add a layer of needles and plants will struggle to survive.Īnother negative factor is that they take a long time to decompose. The reason you have difficulty growing under a big pine is that the tree shades the ground and reduces the amount of moisture that reaches the soil. Though needles are slightly acidic, they really don't change the pH of the soil. ![]() That's why you see so many bare areas beneath pine trees. If left in place, they form a thick barrier that keeps sun, water, and air from reaching plants underneath. They cling to grass and plants and won't blow away even in the strongest winds. If you try to pick them up barehanded, their sharp points prick your skin. When you try to rake them, their slender profile causes many of them to slide through the rake's tines and remain where they were. One of the first negative issues with pine needles is that they're notoriously difficult to remove from your lawn. My Ponderosa pine needles are 6-7 inches long. Spruce and fir trees will also drop needles, but they tend to be much shorter in length and don't pose nearly as many problems as the longer pine needles. ![]() Just as deciduous trees drop there leaves in the fall, pines drop a portion of their needles from the innermost sections of branches. You may also have heard them referred to as pine straw. Pine needles, for my purposes here, are the brown, dried needles that have fallen from pine trees. My Ponderosa pines play an important role in my landscape. I think they have a definite place in the garden and offer a great example of how to recycle nature's bounty. I look forward to my annual resupply of pine needles. For many gardeners pine needles have a place in the forest, but not in the garden. Leaves can be composted easily while needles seem to take forever to break down. If left in place they choke the life from grass or flowers planted beneath a tree. While leaves that have fallen from trees can be easily raked up, blown away, or crushed underfoot, pine needles lie in ever-growing mats on the ground and are more difficult to remove. Pine needles are a scourge to many gardeners.
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