Synthetic straw pictures

[mslawn]

We have installed Textraw in various customer beds. It really looks nice. Pics below-

http://community.webshots.com/album/546659674xBBWCG

[sheshovel]

Can't see it close enough in those pics to comment

[mslawn]

Can't see it close enough in those pics to comment

I guess I should have gotten better pics. However, pictures do not do it justice. It looks just like natural straw but with a better color.

[olderthandirt]

Whats the advantages of it over conventional staw

[mslawn]

Whats the advantages of it over conventional staw

It holds it color, keeps its "fluff", was real easy putting out - no sticks or trash in it. These customers love it. It will not mat-up like real straw so it should cut way back on bugs and fungus. It is expensive compared to real pinestraw, but I think for my customers who want good looking beds year round this is definately the way to go if they can afford it. I will still keep putting out natural straw and mulch for my customers that want it. They just have a bigger variety of choices since I found this.

[Carolina Cuts]

looks nice... but I'm not a fan of straw. Never have been... Probably cause I hate when leaves get caught up in it... ugh!

Mulch Mulch Mulch.... :blob1:

[mslawn]

looks nice... but I'm not a fan of straw. Never have been... Probably cause I hate when leaves get caught up in it... ugh!

Mulch Mulch Mulch.... :blob1:

Seems like most customers I have dealt with in this area want pinestraw, I do about 25% mulch and 75% pinestraw most of the time.

[TScapes]

I wish ALL of my properties had pinestraw versus mulch. I have convinced several to make the change. Thanks to parking lot mulch fires, insects, and fungi, I have had a pretty successful rate of conversion. Plus, I make more money on Pinestraw than Mulch, so why not!

[sheshovel]

Isen't Pinestraw mulch?

[DUSTYCEDAR]

yup?????????????????????

[YardPro]

I wish ALL of my properties had pinestraw versus mulch. I have convinced several to make the change. Thanks to parking lot mulch fires, insects, and fungi, I have had a pretty successful rate of conversion. Plus, I make more money on Pinestraw than Mulch, so why not!

pine straw is much more flamable than mulch

[Carolina Cuts]

I noticed pine straw... 'could' be a "South" thing. I grew up in Jersey for 31years.... never heard of pine straw in flower beds... so I'm just having a hard time adjusting. Don't get me wrong, I like it, cause you can make money on it, and it does look nice 'initially' put down. But it's a personal preference. Whatever the customer wants? Is what the customer get's... so long as they payup !!!

[NightScenes]

Up sell them some quality landscape lighting. Those wal-mart solar lights with that wonderful landscape???? Of course that's what I do.

[mslawn]

Up sell them some quality landscape lighting. Those wal-mart solar lights with that wonderful landscape???? Of course that's what I do.

Good idea. I'll have to give that a try.

[fishinman22487]

I saw that synthetic straw at NAWGS down in Orland at the convention center. It looks very very realll!! I think the sales rep said that it was maybe $20 bucks a bale.

Looks good!!!

[mslawn]

I saw that synthetic straw at NAWGS down in Orland at the convention center. It looks very very realll!! I think the sales rep said that it was maybe $20 bucks a bale.

Looks good!!!

You can not tell the difference unless you pick it up it looks so real.
It comes in a roll that says it will cover 110 sq ft, but at the thickness I put it, it covered approx. 100 sq ft per roll. It is $68.00 a roll and has a color warranty for 4 years, so it is a bigger expense up front for the customer, but well worth it to the client who wants the "fresh straw" look year round. I have had such a hard time finding decent natural straw this year, so I was very impressed when I ran across this.

[Cutters Lawn Care]

It's just now starting to get in my area. A small commercial property has it. I dont' know if it's from the same manufacture as you use. What I see looks like crap. You can tell a big difference in real vs synthetic. The synthetic is very very shiny and somewhat of a different color. My concern would be blowing out beds during spring and fall cleanups. If there is synthetic in the beds alot will be blown into the yard. This isn't a big deal with real straw because the customer wants it restrawed after the cleanup. 2 bales would cover 100sf. I charge $7 per bale so the cost is $14. If your cost is $68 on 100sf what do you charge the customer?

[mslawn]

The last place we strawed used 6 rolls and the bill was for around $700.00. We price install on this straw for what work will be involved.
We charge $14.00 per bale for real pinestraw installed.
I have ran across only one manufacturer that makes synthetic straw - Textraw. This straw has a satin finish - not shiny/not dull - a very good color as can be seen in the pictures. Usually if a client is willing to spend the bucks to have something like this installed, they will buy a roll or two each year to replace is any is lost due to blowing out with blowers,etc. It by no means looks like crap. But like I said earlier it is quite a bit more expensive for the customer.

[TScapes]

pine straw is much more flamable than mulch

I would have to strongly disagree with this statement. In 20 years, I have seen too many hardwood mulch fires to even count. I have NEVER seen a bed of pinestraw catch fire. Sure, I have seen it smolder, but the only time I have ever seen "needles" spark up and actually catch on fire has been when I have a bonfire and throw in the "Dry" Christmas tree.

[Precision]

I would have to strongly disagree with this statement. In 20 years, I have seen too many hardwood mulch fires to even count. I have NEVER seen a bed of pinestraw catch fire. Sure, I have seen it smolder, but the only time I have ever seen "needles" spark up and actually catch on fire has been when I have a bonfire and throw in the "Dry" Christmas tree.

Just curious, what is the cause of these mulch fires?

Pine straw should be much more flammable. greater surface area, less density, yeah that means much more flammable.

If you don't think so, get a candle and put some butcher's pepper (coarse grind black pepper) in your palm. Put your palm close to the candle then blow it over the flame.

Repeat with fine grind black pepper.

see which one explodes in a nice puff of light.

[YardPro]

I would have to strongly disagree with this statement. In 20 years, I have seen too many hardwood mulch fires to even count. I have NEVER seen a bed of pinestraw catch fire. Sure, I have seen it smolder, but the only time I have ever seen "needles" spark up and actually catch on fire has been when I have a bonfire and throw in the "Dry" Christmas tree.

we have fires in straw beds here at our condo's every year.. many years more than one....

is such a problem here that now there is a fire code that mandated that you cannot have any pine straw go under any structure, deck etc...... they say hardwood mulch is fine

[YardPro]

Just curious, what is the cause of these mulch fires?

Pine straw should be much more flammable. greater surface area, less density, yeah that means much more flammable.

If you don't think so, get a candle and put some butcher's pepper (coarse grind black pepper) in your palm. Put your palm close to the candle then blow it over the flame.

Repeat with fine grind black pepper.

see which one explodes in a nice puff of light.

bingo...
pine straw is much more flamable...
mulch is much larger pieces of wood..

same pricnipal as how do you get a fire going... large logs or small kindling...

[Guthrie&Co]

I wish ALL of my properties had pinestraw versus mulch. I have convinced several to make the change. Thanks to parking lot mulch fires, insects, and fungi, I have had a pretty successful rate of conversion. Plus, I make more money on Pinestraw than Mulch, so why not!
WEll if they had used the right damn mulch to begin with they would not have had the fungi and bugs. pine mulch is ten times better than a hardwood or an oak mulch. the pine will resist these things alot better than the hardwood will. plus the pine will add some acid to the soil which helps the plants that need it and the others that dont can tolerate it since its not tons of acid.
now pine straw is a bit more formal, i would say but it will never have the benifits of mulch. with a good mulch( not the cheapest stuff on the lot like most lco's will call for) like a shredded pine will help with water retention, control soil temp range, reduce weeds if applied at the right thickness, one could argue that pine staw will add organics but both do that and acids. so moral of the story is use the right mulch for the application. there is a diffrence in mulches.

[Pro-Scapes]

You can not tell the difference unless you pick it up it looks so real.
It comes in a roll that says it will cover 110 sq ft, but at the thickness I put it, it covered approx. 100 sq ft per roll. It is $68.00 a roll and has a color warranty for 4 years, so it is a bigger expense up front for the customer, but well worth it to the client who wants the "fresh straw" look year round. I have had such a hard time finding decent natural straw this year, so I was very impressed when I ran across this.

I can get natural pine up here round 6.50 for tripple sized bales. bout 65 pounds ea if you need some. Where you getting this texstraw stuff I would love to see it

[mslawn]

I can get natural pine up here round 6.50 for tripple sized bales. bout 65 pounds ea if you need some. Where you getting this texstraw stuff I would love to see it
I sent you a PM.

[SOUTHERNGREENSCAPES]

Ok, I Am A Born N' Raised Sc Guy. I Have Grown Up With Pinestraw Everywhere. My Wife Is Friends With One Of The Biggest Distributers In The State "p&l Bark". I Have Seen All The Pros (cheap Prices) And Cons (red Bugs) Associated With Pine Straw. I Have Also Tried Mulch. The Only Problem With Mulch Is With Repeated Use You Have To Watch For Termites. After Working With Both Products, I Personal Have Started Using Pine Bark Mini Nuggets. They Bring A Lot Of Good Things To The Table. They Are Heavy Enough So That The Down Blow Away With Clean Up, They Don't Deteriorate Like Straw And Mulch, No Fires To Worry About No Matter How Hard You Try, Light Weight So That You Can Carry As Much As You Can Load, And Best Of All, You Don't Have To Worry About Termites. I Am Sure There Is Some Cons To It Out There. Someone Will Always Find Those, But I Feel Sure The Pros Out Weigh The Cons. Let Me Know What You Think. I Love Them.

[mslawn]

I use a little of it all, I also like pine bark nuggets. They will float off if they are in an area where water runs thru. But they do make the bed look nice. I put out several yards of it a couple of weeks ago.

[Precision]

AS far as termites go. Termites only eat wood they can burrow into. So unless you are using some pretty big chunk mulch, the termites didn't come from nor are the attracted by, nor are they eating your mulch.

Look at a termite bait station. the blocks of wood are 3/4 inch wide by 5 or so inches long. If they could use saw dust or mulch size chunks they would.

Most of my chipped mulch comes in pieces the size of a quarter or just slightly larger and 1/4 - 1/3 inch wide

[start2finish]

where do you get the synthetic pine straw

Life of this product?
Do you have to remove and replace this stuff later, and if so going back to the life of it how often?

Thanks, the needles look good. We have a difficult time getting consistant needles here. We don;t have the time to shop around everytime we pick up needles and our normal supplier has good ones. But sometimes they are not so good. I want to look into this.

[mslawn]

I found it at www.syntheticstraw.com , they are a company out of Georgia. They have a 4 year color warranty on it, and I was told they have some going on 5 years still looking good. As far as my personal experience with the product - I have a few properties that has had it installed for about 3 months and it still looks brand new.

[start2finish]

I checked out the website, looks like good stuff.

[Syn-Straw]

You want picture of Textraw? I am a distributor of Textraw and have MANY MANY MANY pictures in different places, I also have before AND after pics, PM me or email me at
synstraw@hotmail.com and I will send some to you!!