Pennington 2.3 cu. ft. Penn 2.3 cu. ft. Compressed Pine Straw

Clean, easy to spread, works great at keeping berries above the soil, but also allows plant runners to get through to the soil. One bag covers almost 8’ x 16’.

Yes, it may be "longleaf" pinestraw. But "Cleaner"??? Than what? Loaded with HUGE pinecones and a sizeable quantity of misc. debris. "Premium"?? I expected the product to suffer some damage from being so compressed in its packaging. But there was SO MUCH pineneedle DUST and CRUMBS. That dust should last about a month as groundcover, then disappear into the garden soil. A large percentage of the remaining needles were so broken that they will last maybe half their normal expected lifespan as groundcover before they , too, disintegrate. I am very, very familiar with purchasing and spreading baled longleaf pinestraw. Some minor debris is to be expected, but the remaining product should be fresh and springy, making a dense yet airy soil cover. Here in central NJ, when I put down a generous fresh layer of pinestraw, it remains whole and springy, insulating my garden soil and plants, and keeping out weeds for TWO whole summers. Meaning I only need to reapply every other year. This Pennington product (partly crushed needles, partly a mat of dust) will barely protect my soil and plants for this one season. Then next year I'll need to re-do it. Besides the fact that the dust-mat areas look horrible. Glad I didn't buy more than 2 of these packages of "Premium" "Cleaner" pinestraw. Because they most certainly are NEITHER!!!