I recently bought five more trees in one gallon pots to plant out in our citrus grove. All of them had about five or six inches of very large pine bark chips at the top of the pot. I threw the chips away when I planted them into the ground. This was the first time I have bought citrus trees with this sort of stuff in the pots, and I have never seen this at any other nursery around here. Does anyone have experience with large pine bark chips? Did you incorporate them into the soil? Did I do right to toss them?

you can put the big pine bark chips on top of the ground to help retain moisture.

I don't know the size of the chips that came with your trees. However, the #1 most commonly used potting mix by commercial nurseries is 3 parts pine chips, 1 part peat moss and 1 part coarse sand. This mix of ingredients are used by most commercial nurseries because the ingredients are readily available in huge quantities, are the least expensive to purchase, and normally can be counted on lasting a year under commercial nursery practices. - Millet (917-)

With our sandy FL soil, it doesn't really matter--the sand will just fill in the pockets in the bark. If you had a hard clay soil, it would not be good to put the tree directly in the ground with those large bark chunks--it would be like planting it in a pot with no hole and filling it with water (as soon as it rains).

I have seen plants from several places with larger pieces of bark on the bottom ( of containers )- right down to shredded bark used for drainage. They probably used it to keep weeds out- who knows , maybe they had a bunch left over or just wanted to try something new? Might want to inquire next time you visit them. I pitch the bark when I plant in Fl. cause the soil is so well drained , but when I plant in georgia or mississippi -I incorperate bark as my soils there are not as well drained. Also I keep large bark chip / hunks off my property as I have found termites in it more than once.

Termites don't really eat the bark although they may be seen crawling around on the bark when it is peeled off a dead tree. Termites really go after the cambium first--then the wood. That is the bark I prefer, it does not deteriorate like the wood and cambium often found in commercial bark mulch.

As for adding bark to clay soil, that is a risky move, unless you are creating a raised bed. Adding anything that improves drainage to heavy clay soil in a hole when you are planting a citrus tree (or any tree susceptible to root rot) will only create a hole that will retain water and cause root rot.

I never said anything about the termites eating the bark-- I simply said I have seen them a few times in bark--- & I don't want those near my house. As for incorporating the bark in the ground , I will continue to take my chances with that , I have done O.K