RE: CULT: White Pine not shortleafed?

>Bill Shear wrote:
>>I have used needles from shortleaf pine as winter mulch for years and have
>>not noticed any ill effects.
>>I would question the use of white pine needles.  They are much flimsier and
>>lighter than shortleaf pine needles and would,it seems to me, tend to
>>compact too much to be a successful winter mulch.

>At 02:19 PM 11/12/97 -0700, Ellen wrote:
>	The needles of the Eastern White Pine (Pinus strobus) are 3-4"
>	long and I regularly utilize them as part of my winter mulch along
>	with Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) which has needles of 4 1/2 - 6 1/2"
>	long. The cones of both identify them as well as height and shape
>	of the tree.
>	Perhaps the pine found abundantly in the Southeast which is known
>	as Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) would not be successful as a
>	winter mulch having needles as long as 6-10".
>	Cheers,
>	Ellen

Ellen,

I use the abundant long needled pine straw from Pinus palustris in my
flower beds, although not on my TB's since I am in a relatively mild
climate compared to yours.  I have not noticed that it compacts anymore
than the shorter kinds of straw, but I've yet to get empirical and get out
a ruler to compare.:)  

I will comment that my father, who does landscaping, prefers the long
needled variety because it looks more attractive as a mulch than the
shorter needled variety.  All you need is one Pinus palustris in your
garden.  People blessed (or is it cursed?) with more than one tree, usually
end up raking and piling it up on the street for the city to carry off to
the recycling center.  
I remember cruising neighborhoods riddled with Pinus palustris on rainy
days with my father when I was a child.  He would pick up the freshly raked
straw that would have otherwise gone to the city landfill (no recycling or
compost facilities then) and take it to one of his customers the next sunny
day and sell it to them for $20.00 to $40.00 a pick up load.:) Capitalism
at its best!:)  We had good groceries on the table many times because of
someone's desire to rid themselves of Pinus palustris needles.:)

-Donald (still working on his new beardless iris/daylily bed and trying to
beat the first frost.  It's coming down to the wire.)


Donald Mosser
Member of AIS, HIPS, SIGNA, SSI, SLI, SPCNI, and IRIS-L
dmosser@ibm.net

North Augusta, South Carolina, USA
On the South Carolina and Georgia Border
USDA Zone 7b-8
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