For more than 20 years, we’ve been using pine bark mulch on our own gardens, while mulch fads came and went. Dyed red wood chips, cypress, dyed shredded rubber and dyed black wood chips have come into and out of fashion during that time, and still we’ve stubbornly stuck with pine bark. For the first few years we used composted shredded pine bark. When composted pine bark became hard to find we switched to pine bark nuggets. Now we use pine bark mini-nuggets. So, how has it worked out? In short, extremely well. Here are the details:
When we started landscaping our property in the late 1990s, we followed our own advice and prepared the beds by tilling in lots of peat moss before planting. We didn’t use any weed barrier fabric. Instead, we slathered on three to four inches of pine bark once the planting was finished. We took care not to pack down or disturb our beds after that. Each year we cut a new edge (to keep the lawn from invading) and added three more inches of shredded pine bark.
Eventually, we had rich dark soil so soft we could dig with our bare hands. We switched to pine nuggets. The big nuggets kept their rich brown color, and lasted longer, so we didn’t need to add as much each year. The nuggets dried out quickly after rains (which limits fungus diseases), and they were better at discouraging weed seeds from taking hold. Currently, we’re using mini nuggets on most of our beds.
We like to say that whatever you add to your beds over time, that’s what your soil will become. Pine bark is more acid (lower pH) than other mulches, which is very beneficial for most landscape plants. It also uses less nitrogen to decompose, so less fertilizer is needed to keep plants healthy.
A few years ago we discovered pine fines, “the Cadillac of mulches”. Pine fines are the dust and small fragments left over after larger bark nuggets are screened and sorted. They smell heavenly, like a pine forest. Pine fines aren’t exactly mulch; they are actually a component of commercial potting mixes, sold to commercial growers and potting soil manufacturers in bulk. Mulch processors sell fines by the semi load to growers and potting soil manufacturers. It’s hard to find them in bulk at retail outlets.
In the retail world, pine fines are bagged and sold as soil conditioners, with brand names like “Enrich Soil Conditioner”. It’s more expensive than locally sourced hardwood mulches because it has to be shipped from Georgia and the Carolinas, but it’s the nicest mulch we’ve ever seen.
We’ve experimented with pine fines for filling raised beds to grow blueberries and strawberries, and it’s perfect for both. Pine bark has the exact pH and moisture retention (blueberries HATE wet, heavy soils), and by adding Holly Tone fertilizer we grew stunning crops of blueberries in our own raised bed planter. An added bonus is that pine fines are completely sterile (no weed seeds) so we don’t have to weed our raised beds at all. The secret is to not add soil or dirt of any kind. Each season we just fertilize with Holly Tone and then top up the raised beds with pine fines or mini nuggets, which smother any weed seeds that might have blown in the previous year.
Shipping is half the cost of any mulch. Mulch is a by-product, very plentiful and cheap if you live close to the source. Southern Ohio has active hardwood mills, which generate lots of chips and sawdust, so hardwood mulches are cheap here. Down south, pine needles and pine bark are plentiful and cheap. Transportation cost is why pine mulches are more expensive in Ohio than hardwood by-products. We believe they are absolutely worth the extra cost.
Steve Boehme is a landscape designer/installer specializing in landscape “makeovers”. “Let’s Grow” is published weekly; column archives are on the “Garden Advice” page at www.goodseedfarm.com. For more information is available at www.goodseedfarm.com or call GoodSeed Farm Landscapes at (937) 587-7021.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Let's Grow: Shrubs - pine bark is the ultimate mulch
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