using pine bark in the garden

karen

can I? I was given six generous bags of rough pine bark, free and told it is too acidic for compost. how else can i use it?

Obiora E

@kquinnhobbs If you are growing something like blueberries that can benefit from acidic soil but it's too alkaline you can use the pine bark for it.

See https://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-blueberries-pine-bark-90876.html and https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=B1291&title=Fertilizing%20Blueberries%20in%20Pine%20Bark%20Beds

karen

thank you

no blueberries

can i use as mulch around tomatoes?

pamelamackenzie

Maybe just use it for pathways. Or try using it as top mulch in one area around tomatoes and compare it with another tomato area that does not have it to see if it has any negative results. Some people say the mulch acidifies the soil or ties up nitrogen from the soil. Other people say that both of those things are myths or that as top mulch, it only acidifies the very top layer of soil and not down by the plant roots. So I guess the deeper the roots, the less you would need to worry. That theory might also explain why they said not to use it as compost since mixing it in with soil might put it more into the root zone.