As David said, we are just starting to put out our pinestraw. When I put it out, I take the time to place the straw under the foliage. Otherwise, the weight of the straw can impede the "already there foliage" from coming through. If the foliage in still low to the ground, the foliage will come on through the straw. As you see, David and I have different theories about putting out straw. I go back and place the straw around the daylilies after David "sifts" it on top of the daylily foliage. That may be why he thinks the foliage comes through!
OK, to answer Mary and hines' questions----I do not put it on real thick but I don't want to see the soil through the pinestraw. I figure if I can see the soil through the pinestraw, then the sun can dry the soil out there. The pinestraw that we put down last spring is virtually gone right now. I would err on the side of safety and have it too thin than too thick. You can always go back and add more later. Pinestraw does keep the soil cool, so that is good as far as crownrot goes. If you were to have a hot, wet summer (hot yes, wet probably not going to happen), I would pull the straw back away from the crown if you have it on thick. If it is thick, you might be creating more hiding places for snails and slugs. Are you a member of the Savannah Daylily (Hemerocallis) Society? If not, you might want to consider going to a meeting. Daylily meetings provide lots of useful information about growing daylilies and much, much more. Someone might come out to your garden and take a look. There are some really nice people who are members. They hosted the Region 5 (GA) Spring Meeting last June. This year's meeting is in Valdosta. The regular registration deadline is April 15. There will be 4 or 5 nice daylily gardens on tour that weekend (May 10-11). Mary (fiwit), David and I will be there. Send me a Tree mail if interested and I can give you all the information and tell you how to get in touch with someone in the Savannah club.
Doris
