Sunday, June 6, 2010

The bane of my existence

I have pine trees in my backyard which means pinestraw, pollen, dripping sap and pinecones – lots of pinecones.


The family who lived in this house before us planted three trees along the property line. Apparently, they won the young saplings from a contest decades ago. I am all for planting trees and memorable family outdoor projects. I have planted nearly a dozen of various tree types with my family. But pines are my least favorite of trees because of the mess they leave behind from season to season and because of their tendency to snap in high winds and potentially cause all kinds of property damage.

When we were putting in our patio a couple of years ago, the workers dug into one of trees roots and it eventually died which cost us an arm and a leg to have removed. Another of the original three trees doesn't look very healthy and is loosing its bark at the top. It is relatively small and lumberjack Steve will most likely take care of this one should it perish. But the mother tree which is closet to the house, next to the patio, is fat and healthy. The only good thing about this pine tree is that it does provide morning shade to our house and some pinestraw for mulching, but not too much thankfully.

The bad thing and the bane of my existence it seems is that it drops dozens of the small pinecones on the patio and across the yard. So much so that I have started to leave a bucket out to collect these. The need is there for me to periodically survey the yard on the hunt for these items that hide within our grass so we don't step on one barefoot and especially for the sake of my dog Winston – to prevent him from stepping on one of the prickly cones – ouch!


They are pretty as far as color and overall symmetrical design. They are also pretty annoying.

Up next: My collection of hydrangeas

4 comments:

Jeff Branch said...

Keep an eye on that tree which looks bad because down here in the South, pine beetles like to bore in such trees and can attack adjacent, healthy pines doing much damage (a tree man told me this as a way to get me to pay him to cut down one of our monster pines).

Remember when the country decorating craze was hot and people would collect the pine cones and bring them in-doors? So silly.

I like to run them over with the lawn mower and guess which direction the mower will fling it.

Post some photos of your ferns. I want to see them!!!

Jane Bell said...

I only have a few ferns this year, but will take some photos soonest. Coming your way as well are photos of my hostas. Patience is a virtue, bro!

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