Maybe try the mulch/topsoil suppliers. Charleston is a fairly big town, it has to be somewhere. Just keep looking and calling around. You will eventually find it.

Warpiper,

Sure seems like a lot of the local mulch products in my area (Michigan) seem to come from the Southeastern part of the US so I would have to believe pine bark in general would be plentiful there.

I assume you've already looked at the big box stores in your area without success, so I would agree with edweather and suggest you contact some of the local mulch suppliers. It might help to ask them for a specific size of pine bark rather than just asking for "fines". Local nurseries would also be a good source, as many of them use pine bark in their containers.

Hope that helps.

TYG

Pine Bark Fines - see link below

Here is a link that might be useful: Found Pine Bark Fines South Florida

They call it 'double-ground pine bark' at a mulch supplier near here.

.......and earlier poster is right. I've spent enough time in the SE US to agree that there is a lot of pine grown there.

Thanks every one,

I'll try the landscaping suppliers around here. I know there are a few and I'll ask for the double ground pine bark and/or give them the size I'm looking for. I've trued the 2 local nurseries in addition to the box stores in the area but none of them knew what I was asking for. I'll try the nurseries again but this time I'll ask for the double ground pine bark and give them the size. The soil down here is really poor and I want to get back into gardening so I'm looking to go mostly container. Thanks again for your help. :)

Chris

Yeah, if you are asking for "fines" you'll get strange looks. Did you ask or actually look in the big box stores and garden centers? It's usually sold in 2cf or 3cf bags labeled Pine Bark Mulch, or Soil Conditioner. Agway also sell it as Pine Bark Mulch in 3cf bags. Stay away from anything with 'nuggets' in the name.

Chris,

Good luck on your search. Let us know what you find.

When calling around for pine bark I think you will have better luck if you avoid asking for "pine bark fines" since that could mean many things to different people. For example, to me the term "fines" would be any pine bark material that fits through a 1/8" screen. Your definition of "fines" might be totally different. The people you speak with on the phone may not even really know what you are asking for.

If you call the nurseries and landscape places and ask for pine bark with pieces about 1/2" in size (or whatever size you are looking for) then most workers at those places would know if they carry pine bark in that approximate size.

Best of luck and stay in touch.

TYG

Hi edweather and yard guy,

Thanks for the feed back, I greatly appreciate it. I've been to the big box stores and saw their mulches and I got a bag of pine bark mulch and it was more shredded than anything else. The folks there said that was the smallest they had and the nuggets just looked too big. I saw where they had soil conditioners but didn't look at them. I'll be going back this weekend and I'll take a look at them.

Good idea on asking for size vs name, I wish I had thought of that. That would have been more descriptive. I'll be making a few calls to some landscaping suppliers and I'll make sure I specify the size I'm looking for.

Thanks again guys for you help, I really appreciate it.

Chris

You are right to avoid the shredded pine bark mulches.....something I failed to mention. Keep up the good search and keep us posted.

Thanks edweather, will do. :)

Chris,

I was at my local Home Depot yesterday for a non-garden project. I have been in their garden center several times this year so I knew they didn't have any pine bark suitable for 5-1-1 or gritty mix, but I asked a salesperson about "pine bark fines" anyway, just to see what the guy would say. An experiment really.

The salesperson in the garden center told me that he had never heard of anything called "pine bark fines" and asked me what they were used for. After I told him I wanted them for container use, he showed me a bag of pine bark mulch where the pieces were between 2 and 3" in size, much too large for container soil usage but good for mulching garden beds. Turns out that is the only bagged pine bark product they had.

Anyway, that's why I suggested you ask for pine bark in the specific size you are looking for rather than asking for "pine bark fines". Many salespeople, including this guy at HD, probably won't know that that means.

TYG

Here in Camden, SC. Lowe's sells it under the name Soil Conditioner. My local Lowe's has 2 Cu FT bags for $3.24.

kback,

You are lucky to find that kind of pine bark at Lowe's. My local Lowe's has no such thing. All they have are the big pine bark nuggets. I've asked if they had anything smaller and the garden center guy at Lowe's suggested I try an "orchid growing shop". Perhaps in a big city that might be an option, but out where I live there are no orchid shops.

So to anyone who is looking for pine bark, sometimes you can get lucky at a big box store (BBS) and find suitable bark for containers, but it really varies by city and state.

TYG

Hi TYG and kback,

Thanks for letting me know. My wife and I were at Lowes earlier today and I asked several more folks about the pine bark and all they had was the big nugget sizes. I looked at the soil conditioners and most of them were more like dirt with some small pine bark chips in them. More dirt than chips thought. The good new is I finally found some places that sell crushed granite for chicken scratch, a place for turface, and a place for Floor Dry. I should be getting those tomorrow. Its finding a local source for pine bark that's becoming hard. I'll call some landscaping places tomorrow, couldn't do it yesterday and they are all closed today.

LOL!!! I may have to drive to Camden!

Chris