Posted by Brian Jahnke on December 9, 2004

Q: I am a big fan of pine cones and like to use them for decorating our apartment. Fortunately, we live in the Black Forest of Germany and have them all around us. However, I prefer they shape they have when they are closed.

Can I "treat" pine cones somehow to keep them from opening when they dry out?

Brian Jahnke

Freiburg, Germany

A: Good question! I did quite a bit of research but didn't find any helpful answer, but let me walk you through some of my thoughts.

First off, I'm a bit uncertain whether the cones you are talking about are pine or spruce cones. The dominant tree in the Black Forest, I believe, is Picea abies (we call it the Norway Spruce). Their cones are quite large and often have a lot of resin (sticky sap) on them but they do make impressive decorations. Each species has a cone that looks a bit different than others so you may want to look this up in a tree guide to see exactly which species you have.

Both spruce and pine cones usually open up after maturity as they dry. This process is not necessarily a one-way process as they may close up again, after opening, in especially humid situations. So, it would seem if you could keep the moisture content high enough, maybe the cones would never dry and therefore would never open.

Maybe you could spray the cones with a sealant (silicon?) or dip them in varnish to prevent drying. I realize this may be more trouble than you want to go through, but it is the best I can come up with. Do keep in mind that this might still not work permanently and the cones may open over time. Please let me know what you do and how it works out.

vielen Dank fur Ihre Frage

John Wiessinger ( December 9, 2004)