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 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. They cover a bed just fine. They go gray and thin sooner, so you are back out there earlier.
So the choice is not good against bad. It is more money now against doing it again sooner, and which one wins depends on where the bed is.
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.
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
The longest longleaf needles are about twice the length of loblolly. Hold a handful and most of them hang well past your fingers.
What the extra money buys
Longleaf usually costs more than slash or loblolly. Here is what you get for the difference.
It mats together
Long needles interlock once they are spread. The bed looks like one surface instead of a loose pile, and the edge you rake stays put.
It takes longer to go
All pine straw is composting in place. Longleaf is the slowest of the three, so the color and the depth last further into the year.
Less longleaf gets baled
Most of the straw baled in Georgia is slash or loblolly. They set the cheap end of the market, and longleaf sits above it.
Why most Georgia yards get slash
Slash and loblolly cost less, and over a whole yard 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.
Slash straw is not a con. Plenty of good looking yards are covered in it. Just know what you are trading.
What comes off the trailer
Longleaf pine straw, in round bales rather than the small square ones stacked outside a shop. You can have it spread for you, or delivered only.
$12.50 a bale, delivered and spread. Or $7.50 a bale delivered only. The smallest order is $150 of straw either way: 12 bales delivered and spread, or 20 bales delivered only. One bale covers about 80 square feet of bed.
You agree the count before any work starts. The truck carries extra bales, so if your beds need more on the day you can usually have them on the same trip, at the same price a bale as the rest of your order.
Inside a 30 minute drive of Glennville there is no charge for the trip. Past that it is a flat $150, paid once however many bales you order, whichever way you buy it. About 85 minutes out is as far as the truck goes.
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 breaks down where it lies, and the gray is what that looks like.
Whichever of the three you buy, a bed usually looks tired inside about a year. Longleaf sits at the longer end. Slash and loblolly get there sooner.
Nobody can give you an exact number of months. Sun, rain and foot traffic change it. Go by the look of the bed, not the calendar.
Depth matters more than the species
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
Rake out four or five inches on the day and it settles into that, so what looks generous now 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 just for the color.
When to do it
Pines drop needles all year in Georgia. Most of them drop in autumn, winter and early spring, and that is when most people lay or refresh.
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 its price. 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. Cheaper straw covers more ground for the money there, and you will be topping it up sooner.
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 you have picked the straw, 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 less of it gets baled in Georgia. Slash and loblolly 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. It is the only straw on the truck, spread for you or delivered only.
- 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. Leave it and lay the new straw 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?
- Four or five inches raked out on the day, which settles to about two to four inches. 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 most of them drop in 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 delivered only.
Call (912) 256-6051Monday to Friday, not weekends, and about 2 days of notice is best. You can also send the details and get a call back.