Which is better, longleaf or slash pine straw?

Longleaf, if you are judging by looks and by how long it keeps them. The needles are longer, so the straw knits into a tighter mat once it is spread, and it breaks down more slowly. Slash costs less and works fine. It just grays and thins sooner.

How do you tell what kind of straw it is?

Pull a handful out of the bale and look at the needle length. Loblolly runs about 5 to 9 inches, slash about 6 to 11 inches, and longleaf about 8 to 18 inches. Longleaf is the obvious one; the needles hang well past your hand.

Why does longleaf cost more?

It is the straw most buyers ask for, and it is the smaller share of what Georgia bales. Slash and loblolly together make up most of the straw sold in this state, so they set the cheap end of the market.

Which one comes off this truck?

Longleaf, in round bales rather than the small square ones stacked outside a shop. $15 a bale, and that price includes the drive out and the spreading. Delivered only, it is $7.50 a bale. There is no second grade on the truck.

How long before the bed needs doing again?

Plan on about a year. Pine straw is composting from the day it goes down, so it grays and thins whatever species it is. Longleaf sits at the longer end of that. Some people top up a second time in the year purely for the color.

Does the old straw need raking out first?

No. The standard guidance is to leave it and lay the new layer on top. A bed that still has straw in it also takes fewer bales than a bare one, because you are topping up the depth rather than building it from dirt.

How deep should it go?

About two to four inches once it has settled. Four or five inches of loose fresh straw settles to roughly two. A thin bed is what makes straw look cheap, and no species fixes a thin bed.

When is the best time of year to do it?

Pines drop needles all year in Georgia, and the heaviest fall is autumn, winter and early spring. That is when most people lay or refresh. Any time works if the bed has gone flat and gray.

Rows of planted pine trunks running away into the distance over a floor of fallen brown needles

Which pine straw to buy

Longleaf or slash pine straw? The difference is in the needle.

Three pines get baled for straw in Georgia: longleaf, slash and loblolly. They do not look the same, they do not cost the same, and they do not hold their look the same. What comes off this truck is longleaf.

The short answer

Longleaf is the straw most people want. Its needles are the longest of the three by a good margin. They knit together into a tighter mat once they are raked out, and they break down more slowly, so the bed keeps its look longer.

Slash and loblolly are cheaper, and together they are most of the straw sold in Georgia. They work. They are still pine straw and they still cover a bed. They simply go gray and thin sooner, so you are back out there again earlier.

So the choice is not good against bad. It is more money now against more often later, and where the bed sits decides which one is the better buy.

The flat end of a round pine straw bale on a wooden trailer rail, with a hand held beside it for size

Tell them apart by the needle

You do not need a label or a receipt. Pull a handful out of the bale and look at how long the needles are. That is the whole test.

Drawn to one scale. The shaded band is the usual range for that pine; the strokes run to the long end of it.

The ranges overlap

A long slash needle and a short longleaf needle can pass for each other. One needle proves nothing. Look at the whole handful and go by what most of it is doing.

Longleaf is hard to mistake

At the top of its range it is roughly twice the length of loblolly. Hold a handful and the needles hang well past your fingers. Nothing else in a Georgia bale does that.

A pine stand with long windrows of raked needles lying between the trunks, and cut limbs on the ground

What the extra money buys

Longleaf carries a higher price everywhere it is sold. Three things sit behind that, and only two of them are about the yard.

It mats together

Long needles interlock once they are spread. The bed reads as one surface instead of a loose pile, and the edge you rake stays an edge.

It takes longer to go

All pine straw is composting in place. Longleaf is the slowest of the three about it, so the color and the depth last further into the year.

It is the smaller share

Slash and loblolly are most of what Georgia bales. They set the cheap end of the market, and the straw everyone asks for by name sits above it.

Why most Georgia yards get slash

Slash and loblolly together are most of the straw sold in this state. They cost less, and on a bed count of any size that gap is real money.

What you give up is time. They break down faster, so the bed grays and thins earlier and the next load comes sooner. Over several years the cheaper straw can quietly cost more, because you buy it more often.

Nobody is being cheated by slash straw. Plenty of good looking yards are covered in it. It is a trade worth making with your eyes open.

Round bales of pine straw sitting in the lanes of a planted pine stand — Baled where it fell

Round bales of pine straw wrapped in netting, stacked several high on a concrete pad with woods behind — Stacked and waiting on a trailer

What comes off the trailer

Longleaf pine straw, in round bales rather than the small square ones stacked outside a shop. There is no second grade on the truck. One straw, spread for you or delivered only.

Bales are $15 each, and that covers the straw, the drive out and the spreading. Rather spread it yourself? Delivered only is $7.50 a bale, and the smallest delivered only order is 20 bales, $150. One bale covers about 80 square feet of bed once it is raked even.

The smallest spread job is 10 bales, which comes to $150. The count is agreed with you before any work happens. The truck carries extra bales, so if your beds need more on the day, more can usually come off the same trip, each at the same price a bale as the rest of your order.

Inside a 30 minute drive of Glennville the trip costs you nothing. Past that there is one flat $150 for the trip, charged once however many bales you order, spread or delivered only. About 85 minutes out is as far as the truck goes.

Pine straw delivered and spread Every town, with its drive time

A deep bed of fresh pine straw curving along the base of a house with white siding, cut clean against the grass

A long bed of fresh pine straw running along a brick wall, raked around clipped shrubs and a young cypress

How long it keeps its color

Fresh straw goes down copper and turns gray over the months that follow. That is not a fault in the straw. Pine straw used as mulch is composting where it lies, and the graying is that happening in front of you.

Whichever of the three you buy, a bed generally starts looking dingy and wanting a refresh inside about a year. Longleaf sits at the longer end of that range. Slash and loblolly reach the dingy stage earlier.

Nobody can hand you a month count for it. Sun, rain and traffic move it too far either way. Go by the look of the bed, not the calendar.

Depth matters more than species does

A thin bed of longleaf looks worse than a deep bed of slash. If you only get one thing right, get the depth right, then argue about the pine.

Two to four inches, settled

That is what you are aiming for once it has bedded down. Four or five inches of loose fresh straw settles to roughly two, so what looks generous on the day is about right a month later.

Leave the old layer

Do not strip the bed back to dirt first. The new straw goes on top of what is already there. A bed with straw still in it takes fewer bales than a bare one.

Once a year, mostly

That suits most yards. Some people add a second round in the year purely for the color, which is where the longer lasting straw saves you a trip.

When to do it

Pines drop needles all year in Georgia. The heaviest fall is autumn, winter and early spring, and that is when most people lay or refresh.

A brick house on a winter lawn with a band of fresh pine straw around the clipped shrubs across the front

Working out the bale count is its own job, and it is simpler than it sounds.

How much pine straw your beds take

Where the choice actually matters

Beds you walk past every day

The front walk, the beds either side of the door, anything a visitor stands next to. This is where longleaf earns the difference. You see the color and the texture at arm's length, and you see it for longer.

A lot of ground on a set budget

A back fence line, a long tree row, a bank nobody stops at. Slash or loblolly covers more ground for the money there. Plan on topping it up sooner and it is a fair trade.

Ask before you buy

Plenty of straw is sold as just pine straw, with no species named. Ask, or pull a handful out and look. The gap in price between the three is real, so it is worth knowing which one is on the trailer.

Once the straw is chosen, the shape of the bed is what people notice next. Ways to use pine straw in a yard covers the edges, the tree rings and the beds that make a front look finished.

Things people ask

Which is better, longleaf or slash pine straw?: Longleaf, if you are judging by looks and by how long it keeps them. The needles are longer, so the straw knits into a tighter mat once it is spread, and it breaks down more slowly. Slash costs less and works fine. It just grays and thins sooner.
How do you tell what kind of straw it is?: Pull a handful out of the bale and look at the needle length. Loblolly runs about 5 to 9 inches, slash about 6 to 11 inches, and longleaf about 8 to 18 inches. Longleaf is the obvious one; the needles hang well past your hand.
Why does longleaf cost more?: It is the straw most buyers ask for, and it is the smaller share of what Georgia bales. Slash and loblolly together make up most of the straw sold in this state, so they set the cheap end of the market.
Which one comes off this truck?: Longleaf, in round bales rather than the small square ones stacked outside a shop. $15 a bale, and that price includes the drive out and the spreading. Delivered only, it is $7.50 a bale. There is no second grade on the truck.
How long before the bed needs doing again?: Plan on about a year. Pine straw is composting from the day it goes down, so it grays and thins whatever species it is. Longleaf sits at the longer end of that. Some people top up a second time in the year purely for the color.
Does the old straw need raking out first?: No. The standard guidance is to leave it and lay the new layer on top. A bed that still has straw in it also takes fewer bales than a bare one, because you are topping up the depth rather than building it from dirt.
How deep should it go?: About two to four inches once it has settled. Four or five inches of loose fresh straw settles to roughly two. A thin bed is what makes straw look cheap, and no species fixes a thin bed.
When is the best time of year to do it?: Pines drop needles all year in Georgia, and the heaviest fall is autumn, winter and early spring. That is when most people lay or refresh. Any time works if the bed has gone flat and gray.

One straw, spread for you or dropped off for you to spread.

Call (912) 256-6051

Monday to Friday, not weekends, and about 2 days of notice is best. You can also send the details and get a call back.