Do you ever in the fall collect pine needles that have fallen and use them in your flower beds?
Would love to hear how you do it!
Do you use pine needles?
Well, I *would* if we actually had some pines around here.
Edited to add: This is from a Cornell Univ. site: "Pine needles have a pleasing appearance and acidify the soil around acid-loving plants. They normally are not available commercially but can be raked up from around pine plantings.
Pine needles decompose slowly, are resistant to compaction, and are easy to work with. They provide excellent protection around newly set or tender ornamental plants. If left on year-round, pine needles should be renewed annually."
This link might also be of some use - http://texaspinestraw.tamu.edu/pdfs/Pinestraw805-111.pdf
This message was edited Oct 7, 2007 9:27 PM
Welllll, I have some large white pines that drop their needles in Sept, about 10 days before the first deciduous leaves fall. That means I have 10 days only to rake those pine needles, and get them into garbage bags to save until after we clean up the real mess of fall leaves. Otherwise they get mixed in with the deciduous leaves and they are worthless (ugly).
After we get the fall leaves blown, mulched, mowed and put into the compost pile, I can sprinkle pine needles I reserved over the beds.
Some years I get into a coop with friends in Louisville who import a truckload of bales of really hard needles (not sure if they are from pines per se, but they look like pine needles, except they are hard and will prick your fingers.) These get sprinkled on the beds after leaf clean up, too.
Then there are a couple of places and neighborhhods locally here where the needles fall on the street. I have been tempted to go along with a big push broom every Nov-Dec to collect them, but as of yet I really haven't done it.
Suzy
Our town leaf pickup is from leaf piles at the curb in the street. I "visit" several of these piles before pickup and take as many of the pine needles as I can get. Even when the piles are mixed with leaves the pine needles, because they fall earlier as Illoquin states in the previous post, seem to be together in the pile. When a friend of a friend had a huge tree in the front yard I offered to help with the fall cleanup and came home with 10 of the extra large garbage bags full.
Pine needles are my favorite mulch. They smell great, they are light and attractive as a top unifying mulch over the beds. I also use them on any earth paths I have in the garden. They have to be renewed every year.
I use pine and/or "Christmas Tree" needles on my strawberries. I read somewhere a few years ago that they're good for strawberries and, so far, they haven't killed my berries!
I use pine straw and love the look as well as moisture conservation. In May/June I wait till we have a good soaking rain and put a fresh layer on the beds. It amazes me as I probably wouldn't have to wait for a rain. It allows moisture to penetrate without a problem. I use it again in the fall and need to get after it now.
Commercial baling of pine straw is actually a business here. Bales of it are sold in some garden centers around the country.