Pine trees

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Between every two pine trees is a door leading to a new way of life. 

- John Muir

We have a couple of stands of Ponderosa Pine trees on our property. The vast majority of our timber is Douglas fir, but the pine is a nice touch and creates a more diverse forest, a mixed-species forest, which, by the way, helps mitigate climate change. The wood, while currently not bringing the higher prices of Douglas fir or alder, is valued for furniture, window frames and other specialty uses. 

Our pine are relatively young, and eventually will be harvested for lumber. In the meantime we have begun using the boughs, needles and cones in various ways. We sold pine boughs at Christmastime, although there is not a big market for that. Still, in our own wreaths, we found a touch of pine adds some variety to the look. The cones we use in

pine cone flower wreath

various crafts, making everything from wreaths to Easter bunnies. The needles can be used – and I believe some of ours were – for essential oils. Ponderosa pine essential oil can be found here.

pine cone bunny

Pine essential oil has a number of benefits. With its clear, fresh, “Christmas tree” scent, it is often used in diffusers for aromatherapy or as an air freshener. Used in massage oils, it is known to benefit the skin and is an antibacterial, promoting healing of cuts, bruises and other skin problems. It can sooth inflammation, soreness, aches and pains and will promote circulation. It’s best not to take it internally and be careful around pets. 

My mother, years ago, learned to make pine needle baskets. Although she used the southern long-leaf pine and raffia, we have learned our pine needles are long enough for basketmaking. 

Pine needles are also used for pine straw, a sort of mulch used in yards, flower beds and gardens to hold in water and prevent weeds from growing. In the south the forest floor is flat and the needles can be easily raked. In our forest there is a thick understory and even under the pines the grass and bushes create a difficult terrain to even walk, much less collect pine needles in the amount needed for straw. But we can collect enough for baskets...

Pine is a very versatile as well as beautiful tree. Glad to have them in our woods!

Margaret