Plant a fig tree where pine needles fall? I can be diligent about sweeping them up, but i'm wondering if this is a crazy plan. I have plants there and things live as long as I give them plenty of water, and it would be a great place with tons of sun for the fig....but would the acid be way too much? I read some people use pine needles as mulch for figs, so maybe they can handle it?

I have a wild seedling that started to grow under a pine tree. It is had been growing just fine for 2 years.

PERFECT! that's all I needed to hear. It's a great spot sun-wise, and suddenly I realized it should go there, but was worried about the pine needles. Yay!! Thank you!

I would do three things,

1) completely remove all the soil when you dig the planting hole and replace with good potting soil.

2) burn some hardwood ontop of the area to add lime

3) rake the needles away each fall.

If you do these, the ph issue should not bother the fig at all. The ash will also add micro nutrients to the soil that will help the tree's health

I use 4-6 inches of pine needles for my inground trees as well as the pots I sink 6-8 inches into the ground for the summer.
No problems.

Some pine trees are allelopathic; they possess a chemical that is toxic to some plants, inhibiting their growth. Many other trees are too including black walnut, eucalyptus, pecan, sugar maple, hackberry, red oak, American elm, and others.

This chemical is contained in all parts of the plant and released in various ways depending upon the species...shed leaves/fruit debris, root system, secreted from healthy leaves and dispersed by fog or rain, etc. 

Some trees are much more potent than others... black walnut versus pecan. And there are equally as many plants that are tolerant. 

So it becomes a question of what type of pine needles you mulch with, are they allelopathic, and if so what if any affect do they have on your figs. My knowledge of pines is minimal... I know pinus densiflora is allelopathic but I don't know which others are. And I'm a fig newbie. But I'd imagine Google and the folks in this forum can help you connect the dots.

I've got two in the sun under pine tree mulch, and they are both growing very well!  They get some morning shade mid summer, but the sun path is on them all day now.  In the summer, a couple big boulders might shade them late afternoon.  They are doing just fine, and we didn't enrich the soil.  They went in to that well drained rich soil in whatever they had in their pots.  Obviously, they are happy to be free of those confining pots.

One is Hardy Chicago, and the other is a good one that lost it's tag in the move.  I'll need ID on that one when it produces figs.

Suzi

Thanks everyone! I realized that my neighbors have done just about nothing to their soil, and they get the worst of the pine needles and yet they have a fig tree that's completely thriving....so I went for it. Blake, what you said is very interesting and I have to do more research on this. Our biggest issue in the far back of our yard is the eucalyptus, which seems to kill just about everything, so that makes sense. We also have pecans, but so far everything likes to grow with them, so that's good (not to mention they like to grow everywhere - darn squirrels! Anyone want some pecan seedlings?!). So anyhow, the strawberry verte is in! I planted it today. Tried telling it to hang in there, life would get better shortly, and then that was it. Fingers crossed!!! :)

I was very worried about our new compost pile.  We have a horribly messy tree that is native to Australia called Silky Oak.  It's leaves are are everywhere!  Perfect for mulching and compost.  I was horrified to find that they are alleopathic and could kill any plants planted with that compost.  The soil forum over at Garden Web gave me some wonderful advice.  You might enjoy what they said.  I included pine needles and junipers in my question. 

The best advice I got there was to test my compost by putting it in a container and planting bean seeds in it.  If they sprout, the compost is fine.  If not, it shouldn't be used.

Why don't you try a little test on the dirt under the Eucalyptus and the pine needles.  See if seeds will sprout in that dirt.

Good luck!  That Verte is a vigorous grower!

The plan is to replace that Silky Oak with something else.  Can't be a fig because the roots of figs would do to our septic lines exactly what the Silky Oak has done.

Suzi

I have noticed that almost nothing grows right under a pine tree (not even wild grass).
Not sure why - is it the complete shade or some needle-toxic (like yew trees)?

Some people do use pine needles mulch, but in open areas.

I have several acres of pine trees many 80-90 years old.(hurricane Ivan dropped 60 of them allowing me to count the growth rings) Believe me things grow under them. A lot of brush and where the brush is cleared centipede grass does quite well. Maybe it's the variety of pine tree. I have Loblolly,Longleaf, and Slash pines. The trees I have where nothing grows well underneath are the oaks. Maybe shade is the problem. The shade from the pines is 40 feet away from the trunk this time of year since the canopies of the trees are quite high. The shade from the oaks underneath is just about constant year around.




QUOTE=gorgi]I have noticed that almost nothing grows right under a pine tree (not even wild grass).
Not sure why - is it the complete shade or some needle-toxic (like yew trees)?

Some people do use pine needles mulch, but in open areas.