Q: This spring we are doing our own landscaping. I am curious how the landscapers manage to make the pinestraw around trees and shrubs look like it’s mounded and rounded around the edges.

A: Locally it’s known as “The Post Roll”. Todd Tibbetts, with Post Properties Landscape Division, says their crews adopted the practice of manually rolling pine straw edges many years ago. Their goal was to use colorful, manicured landscapes to attract renters, a strategy that has been very successful for Post. The technique is simple. After straw is applied, use gloved hands to lift and tuck the edges underneath. This helps hold the straw in place and results in a nice clean edge.