Pine Straw vs Bark Mulch
by John yazo
Mulching is a very important part of organic gardening. it provides nutrients, insulation, and helps soil retain moisture for plant life to survive. Putting a plan in place to mulch your plants in the spring and fall, the mulch will decompose and add nutrients back into the soil for plant life to benefit from.
Technically, organic mulch is any organic material that is placed over a soil, such as leaves, straw, tree bark, or pine needles to prevent the evaporation of moisture, prevent extreme temperature changes in soil, and to suppress the growth of weeds, along with adding organic matter back into the soil to improve soil structure.
Pine straw and bark mulch are two commonly used types of mulch in organic gardening. They both have their own unique characteristics. Bark mulch is a by-product of trees sent to the saw mill to be cut into lumber, and pine straw is a renewable resource from pine trees when they shed there needles in the late fall
- Bark Mulch
- Protects plant root systems from extreme temperature change, hot and cold
- Retains moisture, and prevents moisture evaporation
- Breaks down into organic matter, good for improving soil structure
- Can slightly lower soil ph level
- Aids in preventing erosion
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Life span of about a year, best when applied both spring and fall
- Could attract termites
- Can float with heavy rains
- Pine Straw Mulch
- Protects plant root systems from extreme temperature change, hot and cold
- Retains moisture, and prevents moisture evaporation
- Breaks down into organic matter, best used with other organic material for a soil amendment
- Can slightly lower soil ph level, more acidic than bark mulch
- Aids in preventing erosion
- Normally less expensive than bark mulch
- Life span of about six months, best when applied twice a year, spring and fall
- Could attract rodents and snakes
- Does not float with heavy rains
Bark mulch and pine straw are both types of organic mulch that can add many benefits to an organic garden. The one thing that puts these two types of mulch in separate categories is that pine straw is a renewable resource, it does not need to be produced as bark mulch does. Pine straw is a sustainable mulch that reproduces itself every time a pine tree looses its needles every year.
Pine straw is a natural organic mulch that is lighter to handle and easier to disperse that bags of bark mulch. Once in place pine straw does not compact like other types of mulch do, allowing for better air circulation to the soil, water infiltration that also benefits the ability of nutrients to soak into the soil and has the ability to retain moisture in itself.
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