Where Do You Buy Your Pine Bark Mulch From?

Pulling my hair out here....checked on Ebay and you wont have a problem in
buying a one ton bag.....but if you only want a small quantity then its a different story

I need some to repot a couple a Acers, it needs to be the smaller Pine Chips like 5 - 15mm
I have tried a loads of garden centres in and around Medway and in London but they all seem to sell the normal weed suppressant bark which you can buy in B and Q and also Homebase etc but I have just started to admire these amazing trees and everyone is saying that
you need to use Pine Bark has it takes longer to break down into the soil.

Probably have this wrong but after countless searches it looks like I need a mixture
of 60/20/20 that's Pine Bark, Perlite and John Innes no3

I managed to find some from a company in Wales but they only supply small 0.5L
sample bags or you have to buy at least 1/2 a pallet ...........where do you
buy yours from please.

 

I grow some of these just planted in the garden in ordinary soil without problems.. I've never grown them in containers so I can't really comment on the advice; but it does seem to be a bit specific though. I just Googled ( other search engines are available) acer potting mix and found this on the RHS site https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=126 and on another site http://www.bigplantnursery.co.uk/GrowingGuideJapaneseMaples.htm and they suggest using John Innes 2 or 3.

 

I use a mix of 2/3 general purpose (with John Innes no 3) and 1/3 ericaceous compost (they don't really need ericaceous and can manage perfectly well without). Around christmas you can beg borrow or steal some pine needles from relatives/friends/neighbours' christmas trees and use those as a mulch Or you can buy it off eBay but it isn't cheap. However, I've read that it's a myth that they will acidify the soil, so if that's why you're using them, you could be wasting your money.

 

I did check on Ebay (many times) and phoned a number of Bark suppliers and
also at least 20 garden centres and you can easily get normal bark but if you want
quality pine bark then you you have to buy them in 1 ton sacks or pay
£25 for a 50L bag because of the delivery charges...if you know of supplier
then sells pine bark to the above grade cheaper then that would be great.

I know very little about Acers, but I did read that most growers use
a 60/20/20 mix whilst others use 50% mp, 25% John Innes no 3
and 25% grit with pine bark as a top dressing as the pine bark breaks
down over a long period of time compared to normal bark.

Also a Acer grower at RHS Tatton Park (it was on the telly just a couple
of weeks ago) who has won 4 Gold medals and many Silvers
said to use any type of compost but not Ericaceous as
"they are not a Acid loving plant" great clip and lots of information
you need to go about 12 minutes into the video

Sometimes the more you read the confusing it gets...lol

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b007tw5t

 

Sorry intel, I was referring to pine needles (not bark) which you can buy on eBay in very small quantities but they work out much more expensive than buying the bark.

Definitely agree with that! And t'interweb doesn't help because you get so many differing opinions.

 

I`d just look out for some pine trees when your next out and scoop up som pine cones/needles and add it to some free draining soil. Mine do fine in mpc btw.

 

You will see what I posted in a similar post here:

'Acers like light well draining soil and I mix mine with pine finings rather than grit which I have found to be a better mix .... some John Innis, maybe peat, leaf mould, a little bone meal, compost etc .... depending on what I have handy at the time I am fortunate to have great two year old leaf mould and my own compost and pine finings. Think .... 'what would I like to live in if I was a new little acer? '

I am referring to pine needles .... gather up a small bag under the pine tree .. you can even break them up further in an old kitchen blender (ask the wife first LOL)

 

I did manage to get some pine things? (a friend of mine collected what was under
his Conifer trees, some were needles and other bits were like dead pine leaves )

But I also managed to find a pet shop that was selling Orchid Pine Bark (used
as bedding for reptiles) so brought about 1 kg for £2.60 - after checking the bark
seemed very coarse, some bits were over an inch long, which I think are too coarse
for little roots, so I have chopped up the large bits and my two little Maples
are now ready for re-potting

I did check on the internet but couldn't find a proper answer as to what the
difference is between Orchid Pine Bark and normal Pine Bark and also if the
Orchid Pine Bark is suitable for re-potting Maples?