Pine Straw (or whatever it is?)
 

Anyone know where I can purchase a couple of bales of the pine stuff the villages put in the beds of new homes. I live in Pennecamp. I suspect many will respond with recommendations for other materials to use. I am not a "weeds and seeds" kinda guy. Just want to fill in some gaps until I inherit some big bucks and pay for new and improved landscaping. :o

Home Depot and Lowe's both frequently have some. If they're out, check with some of the local nurseries. It usually costs $5.00 a bale. Do be sure to wear gloves and long sleeves when spreading it -- it frequently has ticks in it.

Check out the landscaping place on Rolling Acres Road. I think I paid $4. Put a drop cloth in your van or trunk.

Pine Straw
 

I know that they sell it at Terrascape over on 301. Go to 466A, turn right to the end. Turn right on 301 for about 2 miles (?) It will be on the left side of the street. I believe it is about 4.50. for a bale. Terrascape also has nice plants and trees for less money than Fairfield Farms and Mansfeild. There is a lady named Bonnie who knows a bbunch about landscaping plants. We have been very pleased with her.
BTW, when you get your fortune my yard needs landscaping also. I promise I'll remember you when Imy ship comes in. :highfive:

I like pinestraw because it biodegrades and enriches the soil, so when you do plant flowers in the almost completely sandy soil they have something to nourish them.

BUT we like the pine chips better that you can buy in bags in all the local places.

I enjoy seeing all of the lovely gravel, and other pretty materials but weeds still find a way to struggle through it too.

I have carried pine straw bales in our van. THEN someone said they can be hiding snakes...........:(

So we switched to chips.

Gracie the hoe-er

Not to get off the subject, but I hate pine straw and so does my dog. What else can you use? I see Gracie uses pine chips. Any other suggestions? Just thinking ahead for when we get down there.

I put a vote in for stone! In our lives we have used pine straw, mulch, pine chips, etc. You have to replace every year! Stone down once and final. I go around with Round-up once a week and zap any weeds that pop. To us it is the least maintenance option available except total concrete!
Least maintenance means more time for golf!

Army Guy

Pine Straw
 

We get ours from R & K Landscaping on 441/27, close to Munns A/C...We used it when we lived in NC on a golf course, BUT it was free from golf course maintenance then, now 4 or 5 dollars a bail...

The Villages landscaping looks so nice with pine straw, we figured what is good for Villages is good for us...

Thanks for all the responses...especially the warning about ticks. Can't let DW see that one.

Combustible Landscaping Materials
 

Pine straw is not recommended if you have a vinyl home. I live in Raleigh and we have had a few fires spread very fast because of pine straw. We now have laws on multi family homes. I know other towns nearby have laws as well. If you google pine straw fires you will find lots on news articles. Here is a link to the Town of Cary NC Fire Departments website. It talks about the fire rate spread of different mulches.

http://www.townofcary.org/Departments/Fire/clm.htm

My mulch will be rocks when I move to TV.

That is a very good point and I had forgotten how volatile pine straw is. We had a fire in our neighborhood due to a spark hitting pinestraw and it melted a lot of siding on a neighbors house.

Update
 

After reading previous thread, checked out Southern Ag. (next to woodshop on Rolling Acres), bought 25 bails of pine straw for $3.99 ea, new red pine straw, looks great, have had many neighbors ask us where to get the pine straw....Really looks great if I don't say so myself....giggle....:BigApplause::BigApplause:

Keeps the weeds away
 

R & K Landscaping on 441/27

A real plus of pine straw is that it keeps the weeds away so we never have to weed. I would guess thats why the Villages uses it all over the place.

How much was it at R & K dadspet?
 

Last time we were there it was $5 bail, is that right?

[QUOTE=graciegirl;328452

I have carried pine straw bales in our van. THEN someone said they can be hiding snakes...........:( So we switched to chips. [/QUOTE]

I've also heard that snakes and ticks love pine straw. It could be they also love mulch.