High Desert Gardening

With Summer rapidly approaching and all the gardening projects almost complete, we were faced with one question: to cut down the Pine Tree or let it be? It stands tall between the  deck area and the carport, providing some shade to these areas. However, the amount of pine needles falling from this tree alone is overwhelming. It requires high maintenance and constant clean up as the needles fall year-round. These trees are quite messy, the pine needles are always falling and piling up in the backyard. When the weather is good, clean up is easy and when the weather is erratic (with high winds lasting up to a week), clean up becomes quite painful as they get everywhere. Now I understand why some people allow trash to pile in their yard. It’s hard work, it’s endless and those needles are dangerous. Have you ever been poked by a pine needle?

After much considerations (six years of deciding the fate of the Tree), we cut approximately one-third of its branches a week and a half ago. Yesterday, with the help of our handy neighbor and his tools, we were able to cut down the Tree. We’ve been poked so much by the needles and covered in sap. It was worth the pain and we have no regrets. We’ve opened up the area and best of all, no more pine needles to deal with.

I love conifers and I prefer Fir Trees (Fraser Fir, Balsam Fir, Silver Fir, Spanish Fir and Korean Fir amongst my favorites). Pine Trees are gorgeous, especially when planted in groups or lined up and I love decorating my garden with pine cones. Unfortunately, my Pine Tree did not produce cones and it was growing at a slant. The Tree simply didn’t meet our needs and we needed the space, which is the perfect location for an upcoming project.

Pine Needles Uses:

• Mulch and Pest control.
• Products/Crafts such as hand-woven baskets, dolls, jewelries and so much more. They also make great Christmas decorations as well as fun stamping projects.
• Pine Needle Oil. According to WikiPedia, It is used in aromatherapy, as a scent in bath oils, as a cleaning product, and as a lubricant in small and expensive clockwork instruments. It is naturally deodorizing, and antibacterial. It may also be used varyingly as a disinfectant, massage oil and an antiseptic. It is also used as an effective organic herbicide where its action is to modify the waxy cuticle of plants resulting in desiccation.
• Pine Fragrances such as Agua Brava by Antonio Puig, Hugo by Boss Hugo, Fou d’Absinthe by L’Artisan Parfumeur, PI by Givenchy and Polo Crest by Ralph Lauren just to name a few.

Health Benefits

According to Wikipedia, Some species have large seeds, called pine nuts, that are harvested and sold for cooking and baking.  The soft, moist, white inner bark (cambium) found clinging to the woody outer bark is edible and very high in vitamins A and C. It can be eaten raw in slices as a snack or dried and ground up into a powder for use as an ersatz flour or thickener in stews, soups, and other foods, such as bark bread. A tea made by steeping young, green pine needles in boiling water is high in vitamins A and C. More information here.

Learn How to Make Pine Needle Tea. Click here to learn about the right Pine Needle to choose. Yew, Norfolk Island Pine and Ponderosa Pines are poisonous.

By JM Perez

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