Pine Mulch
Pine Mulch: Pros and Cons
Pine mulch is organic mulch and there are pros and cons to choosing this kind of mulch. It is good to make your choice with a clear understanding of the purpose of mulching and with an awareness of alternatives.
Mulching is important because it is a good way to keep the plants and shrubs healthy without too much time and money being spent on landscape maintenance. Mulching obviously helps reduce soil erosion by preventing soil from run off during the rainy season. Mulching is also a good way to conserve moisture; experts say that there is a 10 to 25 percent reduction in soil moisture loss from evaporation and that mulching significantly helps reduce this rate of reduction. Mulches also help the soil around plants and trees stay healthy by facilitating aeration. This is because they break the pressure of the raindrops hitting the soil which can lead to compaction and result in very hard ground. Mulches help to moderate the soil temperature and are conducive to the growth of soil enhancers such as microorganisms. Mulching also helps the health of plants by preventing or reducing the growth of unwanted weeds and poisonous fungi. The mulched area around trees and plants serves as a moat of sorts that reduces the possibility of damage from mowers or trimmers.
Before mulching make sure all weeds are removed and then spread the mulch. It is a wrong strategy to cover a weed-infested area with mulch and then assuming that the problem has been solved. Mulch along cannot stop weed growth. Make sure while mulching flower beds that the entire area is covered as it is a good idea to cover the root zone. In the case of trees or larger shrubs, the mulch can form a wide circle around the tree. But, it is a good idea to keep the core around the stem of trunk open to the sun to avoid the possibility of decay of the bark.
Pine mulch is a good choice for taking care of all the benefits that mulching should provide. It is attractive and depending on where pine straw or bark nuggets are used you can get the benefit of dense coverage or more loose mulching. Pine mulch is organic mulch in that it will decay with time. The benefit of this is that the natural process of decomposing itself will release enriching nutrients into the soil of your garden and enhance soil quality. This will mean, of course, that the pine mulch will have to be replaced every year or every other year depending on whether pine straw or pine bark is being used. Organic mulch such as pine tends to be cheaper than non-organic alternatives.
Among the cons of choosing pine mulch is the reality that decomposition will cut into the nitrogen supply of the plant near the mulch. Sometimes, unweathered organic mulch can make a thick layer that will not allow easy water penetration and this can well end up damaging the roots of shrubs and trees. Organic mulch can also end up making the soil more acidic. There is also the danger that organic mulch can attract slugs and garden pests and provide them with a convenient hiding place. In some cases these pests can help the plants but will still be a bother for the gardener. There is also the concern that using very fine pine mulch can result in it getting washed away by rain water. Some of these problems are avoidable by using non-organic mulch such as rocks and gravel and other recycled materials.
It is best to decide whether pine mulch works for your gardening needs by assessing your local climatic and soil conditions. You can talk to your local nursery and consider the alternatives before making a final choice.