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GLT's Grow: Pine Straw As Mulch

psuedo obscure
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Flickr via Creative Commons

Ron in Normal has a question for Murph.  having heard the host of GLT's Grow espouse the benefits of hardwood mulch, Ron wants to know if it's okay to use pine straw instead.

  • Short answer:  Yes. 
  • Hardwood or pine straw...really, it's a matter of aesthetics, either is splendid.
  • An organic pine straw mulch will add so much to the landscape -- beauty AND the ability to return organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.
  • White pines are native to the Midwest, and lose their needles each year, so gardeners have an opportunity to repurpose the needles that fall from their own trees.
  • Just make sure your pine tree is not diseased, because you could transfer the illness in the needles to your bedding plants.
Reporter, content producer and former All Things Considered host, Laura Kennedy is a native of the Midwest who occasionally affects an English accent just for the heck of it. Related to two U.S. presidents, Kennedy appalled her family by going into show business.