Celina DeBrito, head gardener at Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards. Janet Mavec, author of Bird Haven Farm: ... you can also opt for pine bark mulch or pine straw mulch as alternatives.

Straw makes an attractive mulch in the vegetable garden, but I think it looks out of place in landscapes and flower gardens. A normal sized bale of straw will cover about a ten by ten foot area.

In general, pine straw covers close to 1.5 square feet per pound, while wood mulch covers about 0.5 square feet per pound. That’s one-third the weight per square foot of coverage, or three times ...