This menu has been compiled to provide you with professional answers to all of your questions regarding pine bark mulches!

Contents: (please click on the topic you are interested in!)

• Are there different pine bark mulch types?
• What is the difference between pine bark mulch and mulch in general?
• Do colour pine bark mulches exist?
• Pine bark mulch types.
• Features of the bark mulches of different pine species
• The impacts of pine bark mulch on the environment
• Where can pine bark mulch be used?
• Where should pine bark mulch NOT be used?

Are there different pine bark mulch types?

The answer is: Yes, there are!

Many types of pine bark mulch can be used in gardens, under garden playthings for children or for pet bedding. The different bark mulches are usually classified based on their size and species.

The most common classification is that based on size as the efficiency of pine bark mulch is determined by the size of the bark pieces!

The finer a pine bark mulch is the more effective it is against weeds – while the coarser it is the more decorative it will be. It is important that you lay the pine bark mulch size which suits the actual plants, to avoid the suffocation of plants by the use of too coarse bark pieces.

To select the right bark mulch, you can also use the "Bark mulch selector" section under the "Weed Warrior Calculator".

The species of pine bark mulch is of secondary importance: the required types should be selected based on the look (???) of the mulch. Please click HERE (link) to see the features of the different pine bark mulches by species.

What is the difference between pine bark mulch and mulch in general?
"All pine bark mulches are mulch but not all mulches are pine bark mulch!"

The word “mulch” means a material, e.g. decaying leaves, that you put around a plant to protect its base and roots, to improve the quality of the soil or to stop weeds growing. However, ‘to mulch’ means ‘to cover the soil with a mulch’ and, hence, the synonym of ‘mulch’ as a noun is soil covering!

Mulching is the process of covering the soil with some natural substance to reduce temperature fluctuations and the degree of evaporation and even to prevent weeds from sprouting.

Pine bark mulch is a popular type of mulch!

The following can all be used as mulch:

• mown grass,
• branch chippings,
• hay,
• wood chippings (dyed, treated wood chippings are not fully natural!),
• pine bark mulch.

The substances used for mulching are fully natural and decompose without causing any damages to the environment.

Why is pine bark mulch a mulch?

Because:

• It is completely natural,
• It retains moisture – less need for irrigation,
• It will prevent weeds that grow from seeds from sprouting,
• It acidifies the soil,
• It protects the top (fertile) layer of the soil,
• After a while, it integrates into the soil (thus exerting its positive effect!).

Do colour pine bark mulches exist?

No, pine bark mulches are never dyed.

The substance that is dyed and is used as mulch, similarly to pine bark mulch, is nothing else than wood chippings!

It is usually a side-product of wood processing plants but is sometimes also produced through the shredding of old wooden palettes.

At this stage, the chippings are very light in colour and are roughly equal in size.

The substance so produced is dyed using different colouring agents. (Not always environment-friendly materials are used for dyeing!)

• Its advantage is that it is available in almost any colour.
• Its disadvantage is that its colour quickly fades away.

Species of Pine, Differences Between Different Pines

In Hungary, the barks of the following species of pine are used for soil covering (mulching:

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris): This is the most widespread pine species in Hungary today. Its habitat ranges from Mediterranean mountain chains all the way up to the Arctic Circle, both on plains and in mountains. Its needles grow in pairs, are flat greyish-green and 4-7 cm long.
Its bark is thick on the lower part of the trunk, greyish-brown, with long and deep striae, while at the higher part of the trunk it is red and peels off in scales.

“Borovi” pine (): This species is related to the Scots pine but its habitat and, hence, bark are different from those of the Scots pine. The term "borovi" is primarily used in the wood industry to refer to this sub-species.

Black pine (also Austrian pine or Corsican pine) (Pinus nigra): Widespread in Middle and Southern Europe. It will live on almost any soil and in nearly any climate. Its rigid needles are in pairs, dark green and are 7-15 cm long.
Its bark is greyish-brown with deep striae.

Norway spruce (Picea abies): This pine species is indigenous in Europe and usually lives at a height of 600-1900 metres above sea level.
Its many, single, pointed green needles, which are 1.2-2 cm long, are arranged helically on the tree’s branches.
When young, its bark is light brown but later quickly darkens.

European larch (Larix decidua): Widespread in Europe, Asia and North America. The different subspecies of European larch are difficult to tell apart and can be differentiated only based on their tissue structure, i.e. in practice they can be considered as one and the same species. The European larch that lives in Europe has 1-3-cm-long needles, which are light green and arranged in clusters. This species is a deciduous tree.
Its bark has deep striae and reddish-grey in colour. Under bark scales that peel off, the bark is carmine red.

Features of the bark mulches of different pine species

The natural colour of pine bark mulch is the brown colour!

Bark pieces differ from one another only in their colour shade! (I.e. there is, e.g., Borovi pine bark that has an orange colour shade but there is no orange colour pine bark mulch!)

The differences between the barks of pine species are minimal; the longevity of the bark and the mulch is determined by the thickness of the bark, while the recommended areas of application are determined by the colour shade, to the taste of the user!

Scots pine:

Colour shade: slightly reddish-brown

Structure: layered, scaly

Recommendation: mainly around children’s garden playthings (e.g. under jungle gyms, swings), because of its bump absorption effect, yet it is also excellent as a top decoration layer between plants.

Borovi pine:

Colour shade: reddish brown, with a pinch of orange shade

Structure: mostly thick, separated pieces

Recommendation: mainly under medium-size shrubs, thujas and along fences, outdoors, for decoration, as second (top) layer.

Black pine:

Colour shade: light brown, with a slight shade of silver

Structure: relatively thin, scaly pieces of bark

Recommendation: for rockeries, front gardens, outdoor and indoor pot plants.

Norway spruce:

Colour shade: dark brown

Structure: flaky bark pieces that clamp together

Recommendation: suitable for garden banks, sloping areas, driveways, walking and jogging paths.

European larch:

Colour shade: reddish-purple

Structure: usually thicker and scaly

Recommendation: for rockeries, as well as interior spaces.

The impacts of pine bark mulch on the environment

Pine bark mulch is a fully natural material, harmless to the environment and as time passes it completely decomposes and integrates into the soil!

• Pine bark mulch is slightly acidic, the actual pH value being slightly different between species. Approximate Ph value: 4.8 – 6.8.

• Pine bark mulch insulates the top layer of the soil, thus protecting the fertile layer against extreme temperature fluctuations, thus providing the roots of plants with optimum temperature.

• After its decomposition, it improves (loosens) the structure of the soil, therefore, roots can more easily grow in the soil. Besides, roots provide more nutrients for the plant, which thus grows faster.

Where can pine bark mulch be used?

Pine bark mulch can be used outdoors, as well as indoors.

Outdoors:

• Under plants, to cover the soil,
• On walking paths, against mudding and for more flexible walking,
• On driveways, against mudding and as decoration,
• Around graves, against weeds and as decoration,
• Under crop plants, against the growth of weeds and to retain moisture,
• As bedding for dogs and cats.

Indoors:

• For pot plants, to retain moisture,
• In terrariums, as pet bedding and subsoil,
• For the fine decoration of indoor spaces,
• Under the Christmas tree, as decoration,
• To decorate exhibition stands.

Where should pine bark mulch NOT be used?

Though pine bark mulch has versatile usage scenes, it can still not be paid everywhere.

Since pine bark mulch has a slightly acidic pH value, it is not recommended in the vicinity of basiphilous plants, unless the soil’s pH value is subsequently raised.

Examples to where the use pine bark mulch is not recommended:

• Around cactuses,
• In the immediate vicinity of pools as it can get into the water of the pool.

If uncertain whether a specific plant likes pine bark mulch, please seek professional advice from a gardener!

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me,

With kind regards:

Kátai, Tamás - the Weed Warrior

Mobile: 06-20-201-0732
Skype: fenyokereg
www.pinebarkmulch.eu