Pinestraw is quickly becoming the mulch and landscaping material of choice for gardeners and homeowners in suburban America. This emerging trend provides an additional way related to a pine forest to provide more income to the forest manager. This article will help those considering growing pine trees for harvest to learn about the system and the details surrounding it.

A pine forest is ready for the first needle crop when an established stand of pines reaches a minimum of eight years of age. Needle production from a pine stand increases with age up to a maximum of fifteen years. You should spend some time maximizing your collection of fresh, new needles by removing all cones, branches, and other plants before raking and packing. This type of clearing on the forest floor will make the harvest much easier to achieve and a better product for sale.

Raking and baling is much easier if you have long pine needles. A shorter spiky pine is almost difficult to put together just right for handling, transporting, and spreading. The correct pines to use are members of the southern yellow pine group and, in particular, cut pine and longleaf pine.

It has been learned that October and November are usually the best months to harvest pine straw because that is when the most is harvested under the best conditions. In most cases, dry temperatures come with these months, making harvesting less difficult. Don’t forget that pine trees grow tall all spring and summer. When this also occurs, pine needles are growing with very little tendency to drop.

Fertilizer can often boost tree development and replace many of the vitamins and minerals that are removed by raking. Fertilizing can also increase pine needle production. Studies have shown that 2 to 5 times more needle growth occurs after fertilization.

Private landowners often sell their particular longleaf pine straw to growers, who do the raking and baling. The producer pays per bale. The price ranges from twenty-five cents to a dollar per bale, averaging around fifty cents.

Several owners rake and bale their own straw and then sell it directly to the retailer or user. Many of those who do have garden sheds. The best source of information on pine needle mulch is the agricultural extension forester or perhaps your state forester.