Subject: Re: composted pine needles?

From: [email-masked] (Dick Gilman)
Date: Mon, 27 Mar 1995 19:09:27 GMT

The thing will pine needles is that they have a hard outer shell. 
So you have to do something to break the shell.  I live in raleigh
nc and i know what you are talking about.  I do not really compost
my pine needles.  First I have a 8hp mtd chipper shredder that is
a must to compost anything!!  I wait until it has rained about 2-3
days in a row and the needles are soaking wet!!  Then i run them
through the shredder, they are reduced by about 80% I then spread
them around the low areas in my yard and till them into the soil. 
If you do not have a chipper use a mulching mower but this is very
tedious especially with the piles that I get.  Adding enough green
stuff to really compost pine needles is pretty frustrating as the
needle pile is quite big and very slow to compost.

So make sure the pile is wet - chipper/shred it and you will have
a good compost, very acidic though.  

You can let it dry out completely and then you shred it will
fracture apart like dust!!!  But is then extremely dry.

good luck.

---

From: [email-masked] (Joe Zimmerman)
Date: 28 Mar 95 07:09:13

-=> Quoting MarkHess to All on 27 Mar 95  01:56:59<=-
I lived in Chattanooga Tennessee for 12 years and mulched my 100+ rose
bushes each year with pine needles with a lot of success.  Even won
some prizes in the local rose show.

Regards Joe

 Ma> From: [email-masked] (MarkHess)
 Ma> @Newsgroups: rec.gardens
 Ma> @Subject: Re: composted pine needles?
 Ma> Date: 27 Mar 1995 12:56:59 -0500
 Ma> @Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
 Ma> @Sender: [email-masked]
 Ma> @Message-Id: <[email-masked]>
 Ma> @Reply-To: [email-masked] (MarkHess)

 Ma> I live in Georgia also and have a similar problem.  I usually avoid
 Ma> pine needles because of the problem you described.  With the wax
 Ma> coating on the needles, they take a while to break down.  Also, I'm
 Ma> concerned that they would make my pile too acidic!  Something we do not
 Ma> need in Georgia.  Usually, I just use the pine straw as mulch and swap
 Ma> veggies for leaves from people at work.  The leaves make excellent
 Ma> compost!
 Ma> One warning though, you might want to reconsider using cat litter in
 Ma> your compost.  Everything I've read warns against it.

 Ma> -!-
 Ma>  ! Origin: Austin InfoMail Association <-> Internet Gateway
 Ma> (1:382/87.0)

---

From: [email-masked] (MarkHess)
Date: 27 Mar 1995 12:56:59 -0500

I live in Georgia also and have a similar problem.  I usually avoid pine
needles because of the problem you described.  With the wax coating on the
needles, they take a while to break down.  Also, I'm concerned that they
would make my pile too acidic!  Something we do not need in Georgia. 
Usually, I just use the pine straw as mulch and swap veggies for leaves
from people at work.  The leaves make excellent compost!

One warning though, you might want to reconsider using cat litter in your
compost.  Everything I've read warns against it.