I bought couple fig trees from couple local seller/nurseries, I find that potted fig trees using bark mulch/peat moss have thick fat roots while potted fig trees in sand/soils with weak hair line roots even 7 Ft tall, Due to wet winter soil, I build a in ground raising flower box and need better soil.

1). I am wondering what kind of bark mulch is it?

2). In my area, I can not get pine bark mulch, but very easy to get fir/hemlock bark mulch, Will it work?

3). What the different between fresh bark mulch or composted bark mulch, which one is better to grow fig trees.

There is a bark at Home Depot called groundcover bark. It works great and I use about 60% pro mix and 40% bark. Drains well and the roots love it. This is in large pots btw.

Pine is abundant in the southern united states.  The bark is a by-product from the paper industry.  So pine bark is cheap and plentiful. 

It's not economical to ship it long distances, though. 

The main reason pine bark mulch is good is because it has lots of lignins which slow down the decomposition process.  This has two beneficial effects.  1.  High carbon (wood) items that decompose rapidly use up any available nitrogen.  2. keeps structure and lasts longer.  Structure makes it less dense which allows for more air pockets etc.

It is possible that some other conifers (such as fir/hemlock) might have similar properties, but I wouldn't assume so without doing some research.

Fresh bark mulch is less dense (i.e. it is lighter for the same volume) than the composted/aged variety.  The main reason this is so is because the structure hasn't broken down so there are many micro air pockets.  However, it doesn't hold a lot of water.  As it ages and breaks down over time it holds more water.  I suspect that the fresh stuff has very little (if any) available nitrogen whereas the well composted stuff has some nitrogen. 

I wouldn't recommend using exclusively fresh stuff unless you've got a drip irrigation system and you fertilize often.  The composted stuff will work well by itself, or mixed with some of the fresh stuff or other types of media (peat based potting mixes, etc).

If you use the fresh stuff make sure the pieces aren't too big or they will take forever to decompose. 

Sometimes if all I have is the fresh stuff I will mix it with some peat moss to give it better water retention.  But if you do this you might end up with a highly acidic mixture so lime is required to normalize. 

Figs are pretty resilient and will survive in almost anything but they will bear more/less fruit depending on the conditions.

Home stores may have "soil conditioner". It is decomposed pine bark fines and lime. Also Agway stores carry pine bark mini nuggets, fines, and shredded bark depending on location. I had to order a pallet of fines here in NJ. I was advised to not use cedar bark or mulch. I would think that would be similar to hemlock.

Hi!
I try to cover pots with pine barks 3 years from now and first plant was doing great, but after few month they just start slow down.
Last year I use red mulch and I real love it.. Will use it again and again..

I like to use pine straw the most, but I don't always have it. Pine straw that is brown, will not acidify soil, besides according to sources I have found they like an acidic soil about 6.5 pH, and yes that is acidic. Anyway I use straw sometimes too. I don't like to use bark, but I don't have a problem with it. My soil has aged bark in it already and I like to provide nutrients from various sources. So one reason I don't want to use it. I sometimes also use shredded leaves.
I grow strawberries and they have to be covered in the fall. In the spring when i remove straw I have to do something with it. By the following fall it is too broken down to use again, so I use fresh straw for the strawberries. Anyway I'm stuck with a lot of straw so the garden and pots are mulched with it. I also use shredded leaves to cover blackberry vines that trail. I grow a few types of blackberries that are not really hardy here, and covering them works. So here again in the spring I have a lot of shredded leaves to use up. Fresh leaves will be used for the blackberries the next year. All of these mulches are teeming with nutrients, and certainly should be used at least for compost. By the time the season winds down they have decomposed. Making the potting soil, and garden beds extremely rich in organic material.
I obtained so much free straw last year I had too much, so this year 4 bales will be used for straw bale gardening. I'll grow peppers and tomatoes in them. By next fall the bales will be almost compost, great to add to the garden beds etc.
Here I used pine straw around these young raspberry plants.


Here around a Fish variegated pepper plant.

Thanks for everyone for valuable information and how smart your are, especial Rob.

I have seen a soiless recipe for young fig trees in this forum, It is like this.

2 part of Pine bark mulch
2 part of peat moss
1 part of perlite 

I can not find pint bark mulch from Home deport, I find "Pink nuggets" from Lowe's and it costs $10CND for 2 CUFT, one block from my house, soil store sell "Fir/hemlock bark mulch" for $20CND Yard, and One yard = 27 CUFT, Anyway, I pick up a free sample bag ( 50 pounds+) of "Fir/mulch", I will test it by potting some fig cuttings.

We have lots of pine trees here, for some reason, nobody sell pine bark mulch, all Nurseries sell "Fir/hemlock bark mulch" and Cedar mulch.

Isn't bark mulch pretty much inert of nutrients? Which is why people like it for starting cuttings? And also could be a reason you need to fertilize heavily when using bark mulch for mature trees? 

Maybe use tree mulch (as some like to refer as "Back to Eden") for some better results and less fertilizing?

Being relatively new, this is more speculation based on research I've done outside of these forums.

If you want to get good and often times free bark 'mulch', contact or better yet drive by a local person who splits firewood for sale,  and has been doing do for a few years. They often accumulate piles of bark under their splitter which decomposes right on the ground. I get mine free but even if you don't I'm sure it'll be cheaper than buying it from Home Depot. Good luck.

Ricky, I found large bags (2 cu feet and I think about 25 lbs) of Mini Pine Bark at Walmart for just under $3.00. I'm planning to go back for more as I need it as part of inexpensive potting mix for the little fig trees and also for potatoes i'm preparing to plant. 

The pine wood pieces are not uniform and range from about 1/2 to shreds, but the product works for me and i'm pleased with the price.

Thanks for your soilless mix recipe...
"New England Gardener" on YouTube also has a mix he came up with that works for his figs which uses pine bark, perlite, and potting mix, if I remember accurately w/out referring to the video.

Don't know if this is of any use to you, but I am using pine bark from the pinus maritimus, that growes in southern France. Since this type of bark is very resilient to decomposition, especially in larger sizes. It is very popular around here for mulching and it helps it is very decorative as well.
The downside is that it really acidifies the soil, especially if applied regurarely in great quantities. That's why I only use it for my blueberries and for some ornamental plants that will thrive in acid soil.

I came to that conclusion last year when my hydrangea changed from pink to blue. I ran a test on the soil and notified a drop in pH of almost 1! The mulch I applied was bark and is partly decomposed now.

About acidity: 6.5 pH is not acidic, this is qualified as neutral, especially in sandy soils.

Thanks for everyone good information, In my area, We have lots of pine trees, but none of nurseries sell pine bark mulch

They only sell Fir / hemlock bark mulch, I think that Pine bark mulch is too acidic, not good for typical garden.

I guess that Fig tree like acid soil,

I might be wrong, I think that that soiless mix for rooting/young fig tree

Pine bark mulch  -  (Acidic), slow release nutrients, hold water and increase soil aeration to help roots development
Peat moss  - (Acidic) fast release basic nutrients
Perlite - no nutrients, providing aeration and improving water drainage ( Stable soil water level)

Fig tree like slightly acid soil, its roots on surface, Soil oxygen level decrease by depth, it means that it loves oxygen. 

I think that using Fir/hemlock bark mulch for soiless mix should work well too.