Pine Parenthood
Posted by Stephen on June 10, 2005
Q: I have a rather large pine tree in my backyard. It was there when I bought the house, and part of it hangs over my deck, which I spend a lot of time on. The cones and little blooms (which look like little worms) are always falling on the deck and making a mess. Is there any way to treat the tree to stop it from producing cones, blooms, and possibly pollen? Thanks in advance.
A: Those are the female and male reproductive structures (pines don't have real flowers) as you noted in your question. Once these reach maturity on the tree, they begin to dry up and fall to the ground. I realize that this does make a bit of a mess (these will vary in number from year to year) but you should be able to sweep them off rather easily.
Any tree in ones yard brings with it a bit of work - some species more than others. But I like to think of the amount of visual pleasure, wildlife habitat, and cooling shade they provide that completely overrides any extra work they create. Sorry, don't know of any way to discourage the reproductive structures that grow each year but hope you'll be able to "see the benefits" as you're sweeping them off the deck. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( June 11, 2005)