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That one time my buddy swore by using pine needles for mulch in Atlanta
My neighbor Dave told me last spring to just rake up all the pine straw from my yard and use it as mulch instead of buying bags at the store. Said it would save me money and the soil would love it. Well I did it. Covered my whole front garden bed with it. Come July my hydrangeas were turning yellow and everything looked sad. Turns out pine needles make the soil too acidic for a lot of plants. Had to dump like 40 bucks worth of lime to balance it back out. Has anyone else fallen for that pine straw shortcut around here?
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rowan_ross1d ago
Man I made that exact mistake last year with my azaleas. Thought I was being smart recycling pine straw but everything started looking sad and yellow. Had to dump a bag of garden lime and wait like two months before things bounced back. Now I just compost the pine needles separately and buy regular mulch for the beds.
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lee.cora1d ago
Learned that one the hard way with my blueberries a few years back. Thought I was being clever mixing used coffee grounds into the soil without checking the pH first. Turned everything a sad shade of pale green and the plants just sat there looking offended. @rowan_ross is right about the lime, had to do a whole soil test then scramble to balance everything out. Now I just keep a separate bin for pine needles and another for everything else, learned my lesson about playing chemist in the yard.
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