I grow northern blueberries, if that has any impact here…
The pine bark fines can be hard to source in some places. I used to live in the western part of Ohio and had a bunch of options nearby, but now I just drive an hour into PA and pickup a half pallet or so each time. They’re partially composted/aged and I don’t sift them for size because the majority are small enough. I’ve had productive blueberries sit in pots for years in what was a popular mix on the old garden web/houzz forums…5 parts pine bark fines, 1 part peat, 1 part coarse perlite, and if I’m remembering correctly, 1 T gypsum per gallon. One plant has been in a 20 gallon fabric pot since 2013ish…I keep looking at it saying, this year I’ll repot it.
I’ve gone so far as to reach out to wholesalers of mulch products and ask for retail locations because so many smaller nurseries don’t have inventory on the web.
The Good Pine Fines here are sold at the local feed stores. The next best pine fines are sold at Menards… The only box store locally that i can go get it now is Lowes. I checked locally and some stores have 300+ bags and some stores have zero… so YMMV on which store has what.
I have a small wood chipper and make my own sometimes with pine nuggets if i get a bunch of ‘busted bags’ Just dump them in and out comes pine fines.
This guy has a similar way to make your own pine fines-
I just made straw mulch and leaf mulch with my bagger push mower that has a mulching blade… very good results… i havent tried running it over pine nuggets but i suspect it would do a similar job.
By feed store i mean mom and pop feed stores that sell animal feeds/straw and soils etc.
The Lowes/Walmart ‘Pine Mulch’ locally has alot of wood mulch in with the bark mulch… so to me lesser quality than the above which is pulverized pine bark.
Kambark soil conditioner is the one I’m using now, as well. They sell private label bags and that’s how I found a source close to me. The bag is totally different, but it’s the same product. I emailed their sales email and just asked for the retailer closest. I think they have pretty wide distribution.
Natures Choice seems to be a bigger outfit and has more products…but only at one of my local feed stores. Not sure where the bulk of their business is…
