Quote:
Originally Posted by UFXEFU
Thoughts on tilling in pine straw to help build soil over winter. I have lots of pine straw and leaves mixed together. Should I till it in now or use it as a mulch this spring?
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You can do it either way.What I do is, use the pine needles for mulch one year and then till them in before the next garden season.By that time they will break up when the tiller hits them if they aren't already.
Another thing to consider is the acidity of the pine needles.Here they usually fall to the ground about this time of year.You should always let them get rained on at least a few times before you rake them up and put in the garden, preferably let them stay on the ground all winter.The rain gradually washes away the acid.I read a study someone did on acidity in pine needles years ago and basically it concluded that green pine needles are very acidic, fresh fallen needles have a good amount of acidity,but aged washed out needles have very little, if any.I remember the number they put on the aged needles was one tenth of one point on the PH scale max.