The Towering Pines

     If you were to look around your yard or neighborhood and tried to decide which tree was your favorite, you might say the old oak in the front yard, or the excellent elm across the street.  Maybe you would pick the chipper cherry tree on the corner!  They are all very beautiful trees that produce beautiful hardwoods, and are home to squirrels, birds, and many other small animals and insects.  But they pale in comparison to the princely pine trees that many people overlook as they gander at the elms, walnuts and maples.  Believe it or not, the pine tree is more important than any other tree on that list.  "How can this be true?", you may ask.  "I love my maple tree, and it actually produces syrup we can drink."  That may be true, but what pine trees produce for us is much more important.

     If you like to go outside every once in a while to get a breath of fresh air, you can probably thank a pine tree for some of that breath.  Pine trees are some of the fastest growing trees and produce the most oxygen while storing the most carbon dioxide of any other type of tree.  And fast growth does not mean a short lifespan.  Some of the oldest trees, or organisms in general, are pine trees. Most live on average 100-1000 years. The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine of the southwest US have been known to live for 4800 years!  All that time that tree has been storing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas.  These trees can save our planet.  

     I have heard so many people talk smack about the pines. "They drop too many needles",  "They're ugly", "Their limbs break off".  Yes, they do drop needles, yes they are a softwood and their branches break, but they are NOT ugly!  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Slash Pines, Pitch Pines, Foxtail Pines, Spruce Pine, Red Pine...they are all beautiful!  As far as the issues of needles, branches or pollen, all it takes is a little planning and placement and you will love your pine.  Don't put your pine trees near electrical lines or too close to your house or garage.  Group them together.  It looks better and some pines are single sex plants and need a companion to reseed.  Remember these seeds can be food for animals and will be carried off to other locations.  Rake up your pine needles if you don't like them.  They make a great mulch cover for your garden and will keep out many weeds.  You can learn to love your pines if you learn how to plan ahead.

Pine trees are some of the oldest trees on the planet and haven't done so by being "Mamsy Pamsy". These trees are hardy and tough. They can live in dry sandy soils with high PH and can overcome the cold bitter winters and forest killing fires may actually help them reseed. Yes, fire releases seeds from cones, helping the forest make a comeback after the devastation. Some pines actually require a fire to reseed. They actually may dwindle if they do to NOT have any fires in the area for a long time. The fact that pines drop their branches is actually a survival technique. During periods of high winds or hurricanes a pine will lose some it's limbs but that reduces the resistance and leaves the trunk to survive the storm. Many other trees may die when branches twist and crack the trunk, or even worse, it may tear the roots right out of the ground, killing it instantly.

     Pine trees are one of the most useful plants on the planet.  Pine lumber is used more often than any other woods available.  Most of our houses have at least some pine lumber in it.  Pine oils are used for medicine, aromatics and even added to foods.  Pine nuts are a tasty treat and pine sap makes turpentine, a natural paint thinner, and pine makes cleaning products work better.  Just remember the next time you see that knotty pine in the back yard next to the majestic oak.  Pine trees rock!