[tomwed]

Originally Posted by Happydaz

You can get pine straw at Home Depot and probably Lowes. Some landscape companies will deliver pine straw. Google pine straw in The Villages and you should get some contacts. Price per bale is around $5. Coverage depends on how much is on there before you add any more. You should stir up the old mulch with a fork or garden rake as sometimes it can get a little moldy. Just stir it up to get it aerated before adding new pine straw. I have a huge garden on a corner lot with large beds in the lawn as well as around the house and I order 20 bales. They aren't that big. If you get high quality pine straw it looks nice when added into your beds. I fold handfuls under the small flowers and plants, being careful to not put any near the stems. I also do the same for the shrubs and trees. It looks great to me when it is finished. I use a lot of ground covers, flowers, and shrubs under my palm trees so it has a more natural appearance than the rocked beds with plants spaced every two or three feet looking like they were planted by humans in a line up of "toy soldiers." Properly planted, the pine straw doesn't even become much of a factor as all you see are ground covers, flowers, bushy shrubs, and trees.

Thank-you for your helpful advice.