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Suppose you live in the foothills of the Sierra mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, or any other deciduous area of the United States. In that case, you probably have a lot of pine cones of various sizes lying around.
Some of you might use them as convenient kindling, but if you have enough of them, you are probably asking yourself, “can I use pine cones for mulch?”
Pine cones make excellent mulch, whether in one piece or shredded. They make the soil slightly more acidic, but they have all the necessary properties of good organic mulch and better protect flower and vegetable beds due to their sharp points.
Keep reading to learn more about how to use pine cones for mulch, why they can work as mulch, what the downsides are, and how else you can use pine cones in your garden.
Can Pine Cones be Used as Mulch?
Pine cones are natural mulch used by the world’s coniferous forests since they can produce cones. They’ve served as mulch even as whole pinecones, slowly decaying, fertilizing the trees they came from, and creating a protective layer over the soil.
If it works so well for the forests of America, why not try it at home? Some pros and cons can change whether pine cones work as mulch for your home, but we’ll get to that.
Mulch is a groundcover, so it might seem ridiculous to think of putting small or large whole pine cones all over the ground, but so long as they cover the ground, they are performing the most necessary functions of organic mulch.
That is, keeping the sun and wind from drying up and disturbing the ground while fertilizing it and retaining the moisture of the ground underneath.
It does take more than just being an organic substance that covers the ground to be a good mulch, so even though pine cones can be used as mulch, should they? Let’s take a look at what good mulch does.
What Makes Good Organic Mulch?
To know if pine cones make good mulch, it can be helpful to know what organic mulch material should be and accomplish to be considered effective. This checklist can also help you determine if other materials lying around can work as mulch, such as pine needles.
For a potential organic material to work as mulch, the material should follow these principles:
- It’s a natural, degradable material
- It’s a fine or medium grain
- It’s heavy enough not to fly away in the wind
- You should be able to lay it down without smothering the bed.
Generally, you don’t want rubber chips or shredded tires to be your mulch because they smell and don’t usually work for the gardening applications you are looking for. For one thing, they get hot and can reflect heat onto your ornamentals or edibles.
Fine or medium grains are very good because they break down quicker than massive scraps, which can take ages. Nevertheless, the smaller grains need to be heavy enough not to fly away at the slightest breeze. It needs to be able to keep the soil down. Sometimes that means having two layers of the material.
Lastly, be careful not to smother your bed. Flat materials tend to do this if you have too much. Misshapen chunks can still let air and water through and let growth come out.
What are the Benefits of Using Pine Cones for Mulch?
They are Readily Available
The first reason you would want to use pine cones for mulch is that they’re free and readily available to you.
If they aren’t littering your property, there are nature trails you can walk with a backpack. You may want to look for grey pine cones that are already through a good deal of their decomposition process so that you don’t start accidentally growing a pine tree in your backyard.
Deter Animals from Laying Down in the Flower Beds.
If you are familiar with pine cones, especially the larger ones, you know they are very pointy in many places. These sharp points can work to your advantage in protecting your flower beds or vegetable bed.
The whole brittle cones scattered about will deter any dogs or cats that you have from digging in the mulch beds. This is a good solution if you have wild animals that dig around, such as coyotes or birds that try to take dirt paths and scatter your seeds.
The pieces are brittle also and are just as effective. Then, as the pine cone decays the bottom scales, the top scales will remain as protection.
Pine Cones are a Good Weight
Pine cones don’t fly away easily in the wind, even when they are in little pieces – so long as there are enough of them. As whole pine cones, you can be pretty sure the large pine cones or the smaller, thin cones won’t leave the bed.
The smaller pine cones, about two inches big, might be too light in strong winds, but they’ll do for the most part.
They Prevent Soil Erosion
Mulch, in general, will keep soil down from wind and rain, but pine cones have an added defense against soil erosion. Pine cones have resin that usually protects the pine cone seeds, but the resin will also shed any water and make rain form into droplets that roll down into the soil instead of pelting the ground.
Even from the wind, the natural shape of the pine cone is an advantage. Open pine cones promote air circulation while keeping the soil in place.
They Still Insulate plants
While whole cones may not insulate the roots of your plants too well, shredded pine cones can insulate your beds during the winter and summer, as well as the store-bought mulch.
They Provide a Rustic Appearance
This is more of a happy consequence rather than a real benefit, but if you are obsessed with a rustic, homey cottage appearance, pinecones scream it.
It’s hard to explain, but there is something very charming in seeing a bed of whole pine cones making a neat yet rough-looking bed. Look up a few pictures yourself as “pine cones for mulch,” and you’ll see what we mean.
Are There Cons to Using Pine Cones as Mulch?
Pine cones are not the end all of mulch; we should point out. There are a few problems.
Pine Saplings Start to Grow
If you use pine cones that are too new, they might still have some good seeds, and you may end up with a Christmas tree farm.
They Add Slight Acidity to Soil
Just like with pine needles, if you use fresh pine cones, there may be a slight acidic change to your soil. Nothing that will be enough to kill your plants, but they will protest.
Their Resin is Flammable
The resin that protects your soil from erosion is highly flammable, so it’s best not to use it for beds very close to the house or other major structures.
Conclusion
It always feels good when you can be resourceful enough to supply your garden with what you need from what’s around you, even if it is just with pine cones spread across your mulch beds.
Waste not, want not. This may not be a problem, but check your local wildlife and national park authorities to ensure there isn’t a law prohibiting picking up pine cones.
