Starting a vegetable garden can be a rewarding prospect for any homeowner. In addition to having fresh veggies on the ready, digging in the dirt has big health benefits. Though yanking out weeds might ...

In some areas of the country, the choice between mulching with pine needles and wood mulch is a tough one. Since the 1980s, pine straw has been the favorite mulch in the South. It is inexpensive, ...

QUESTION: I have a maple tree in my backyard. My gardener cut the grass growing around it too low, and the grass died. Can I put pine needles around the tree to make the area more attractive? Some of ...

A. Does pine straw make a good mulch to use with tomato plants in a raised bed? — R. Jeffers, Virginia Beach Q. Like any mulch, pine straw has pros and cons. Among the pros: It’s lightweight and ...

Wood mulch and wood chips will mat down to make a firm but spongy surface for your garden paths and around playsets. Pine straw is too slippery to walk on, so skip it when mulching these high-traffic ...

Wood mulch is a gardener go-to for creating tidy pathways and weed-free beds of flowers and vegetables. The purpose of mulching your garden is not only for aesthetics but for enriching soil, retaining ...

Gardeners know that mulch is a great-looking layer of topping on the soil in gardens and landscapes, but mulch is so much more than just a decorative cover. Mirroring the leaf layer found on a forest ...

At this time of year, when pine trees are shedding their old needles, my neighbors Mark and Olga are happy to have me rake up the needles that fall from their trees onto the street and their driveway, ...

I love discovering new, useful things for the garden. My most recent find is pine straw mulch. For years, I’ve used white pine needles (Pinus strobus) to bed down my strawberry patch for the winter.