After you spend so much time raking up pine needles in your yard, have you ever wondered about finding an alternative use for them instead of putting them in the trash? Well, here's your answer. You can use them as mulch for your flower beds. The commercial term pine straw mulch is just pine needles that have been bundled together. Needles make an excellent mulch for many reasons.
- they are well aerated
- they do NOT attract termites like ordinary bark mulch can do
- the color doesn't fade
- slower decomposition than bark mulch
- doesn't float away in heavy rains
and more. There are plenty of websites out there that talk in detail about this practice so if you seem to always have a pile of needles laying about, check it out! Its a great way to save some money, re-purpose yard waste, and protect your flowerbeds. Three birds with one stone.
Anyone have any experience with using pine needles as mulch? What do you think?
