South Carolina

[leaflawnandlimb]

Just rolled back in from myrtle beach (man is it nice down there) Just one question, whats with all the pine straw, don't you guys use bark mulch? Also I can see why y'all ( sorry , brought the accent home with me ) are beef'n about scrubs, seems to me that the most popular machine was a murray lawn tractor or troy built wide cut.

I can't wait to start cutting, today I picked up my new lazer xp, 31hp 60" man does she screem! I'm curious to see how it stacks up to my 25hp lazer. I'll let y'all know how it does, it's still to wet to get the big machines on the lawns.

[Craig Turf Management]

Pine needles, or pinestraw as some folks call it are very popular here. They are plentiful, reasonably inexpensive, easy to apply, and a lot of my clients like the look of them. Glad that you enjoyed the beach. Haven't had a chance to get down there since late last summer.
Bill Craig

[CSRA Landscaping]

I was at wal-mart last night and saw the homeowner special, a brand spanking new Murray for only $1899 or so. At that price, it only makes sense to get that instead of a high-priced ztr, right? I mean, hey, they both should cut about the same, right? Right? Keeping expenses down ... hehe.
(No, I did NOT get a Murray. I would love to try a 31 hp Lazer!!)

[awm]

which murray did you find that cost that much

[CSRA Landscaping]

I'm not real sure, awm, I just walked by it on my way in to get some nuts n bolts (yes, it was that late). I think it was one of the garden tractors.

[KirbysLawn]

Pine needles work better in certin areas than bark. On hills where bark washes off during heavy rains pine needles will stay.

Why, anything wrong with pine needles?

[1MajorTom]

We actually laid our first pine needles a couple of weeks ago.

A new customer said she had a few bags of pine needles that she had collected from under her pine trees, and she wanted us to put them around her house and in her beds. She was a real kook, (not because she liked pine needles), but because she was really out there. She wanted her own personal gardner. Pick this weed, dig this hole, only aerate half of the yard, and on and on and on. We ended up dropping her.

Anyway though, those pine needles are really easy to lay. I personally don't like the look of them, but sure wish they were the thing up here. Much easier to deal with.

[David Gretzmier]

I have used pine needles in azalea beds for the acid, but I just don't like the look of them. I know they use them further south, but I just like wood products better. Dave

[cos]

I noticed that too, when I was in South Carolina. I looked at every mulch bed and it was nothing but pine needles. I even asked the front desk at the hotel, what the deal was. They had no answer, but that that is all they use. Not 1 bed had mulch in it.

[scottb]

In North and South Carolina it is genrally considered that needles are better than mulch for the upscale homes. Most of the Developments in Mooresville (Race City USA)for you NASCAR buffs mostly use pine needles. I know I perfer to put them out over mulch.

[Charles]

Let me ask you something. Why do you care? MUlch/pineneedle who gives a rats azz

[cos]

We just found it odd that the whole area doesn't even use mulch. Kinda like you find it odd that George Bush is our president.

[Charles]

yea W is like a pine needle LOL. Good comparison Cos man.

[lee b]

We always wondered why anybody would use wood chips in beds. We use wood chips in horse barns and chicken houses, hate to mess-up our flowers using it in the beds. The local towns give what ya'll call mulch away for free and sometimes can't get rid of all of it, so they try to make compost out of it.

[Grateful11]

>yea W is like a pine needle LOL. Good comparison Cos man.

He's more like a prick----ly pine cone.

Gore's more like a needle, straight and boring. Probably break if you bent him.

Hope we've got someone real to vote for next time.

By the way, most of my customers like needles. I only use cypress mulch in my own beds. Thinking about trying a little cedar.

[DMC300]

I just got back from Cape fear N.C.,and I noticed the Pine straw too. It must have been from last year because it all was grey and looked like $h!t ,I'll take pine bark over that anyday!

[R&GSweeping]

We don't use no stinking mulch!!! ;) Really I guess its just what is cheapest and most plentiful at the time. Mulch sells very well here in Florence. I've got mulch at my house and most of my neighbors have mulch in some of their beds. Pine bark seems to be popular. So if a pine tree grows it we will use it. I was in Pheonix last year for a conference and all they had in their beds was colored rock. Blue, green, pink, brown... Pretty cool stuff.

Ron

P.S. The reason they use pine straw in Myrtle Beach is they know the tourist won't walk away with it.

[KirbysLawn]

Originally posted by DMC300
I just got back from Cape fear N.C.,and I noticed the Pine straw too. It must have been from last year because it all was grey and looked like $h!t ,I'll take pine bark over that anyday!

Sure, mulch looks like crap also if it goes un attended for a while. I have a customer now who does his own multch, nice light gray color, also looks like crap. Each product has it place, I'm thinkful the rock look is not popular around here, not much maintenance in that. :( Having a great spring putting out pine needles this year, working on my 3rd trailer load. :D

[A CUT ABOVE]

We kinda like the pine straw down here to because it is easy to put out. Since March 1 we have put out about 1000 bails--no mulch yet. Pine straw is a lot easier to put out and clean-up your mess when your done. As for the gray look, we require the straw to be replaced at least twice a year. Otherwise, we will not take the account!!! Don't want my name on something that looks like crap.

[NateinAtl]

Yeah, pinestraw here. We buy the bails for 3.00 and charge the customer an extra 2.50 per bale to spread. I hate spreading pinestraw unless you are putting out 100 or more, you don't make any money. And the 5.50 delivered and spread is not my choice. You want to talk about scrubs!!! I kid you not--there is a group of inbred rednecks that drive around the nice neighborhoods on Saturday with a truck load of pinestraw. Signs all over their truck. Instead of selling it to the homeowners working in the lawn on Saturdays, theysimply schedule them for the following week. And get this. They only charge $4.00 a bale delivered and spread. How can I compete with that?

'By the way, the reason I was given when I moved down here from Kentucky was that mulch dries out way too quick in the hot South. It makes sense, but so does the acidity it brings to the numerous azalea bushes.