Pine and cypress trees in our region seem to have had a tough season, lots of dead and dying rows of trees can be seen on many farms. We have dead and dying pines on all corners of the farm. I’ve heard plenty of theories as to why these trees are dying but I’m not sure why. The Pine tree, Pinus radiata was the farm tree of choice in this district 30-40 years ago and while we don’t plant them any more we (& our stock) will miss the shelter these trees provided.
Whilst we like to keep dead trees to provide habitat for birds, bats and bugs, dead pine trees rot quickly and don’t last long. One of this weeks jobs has been cleaning up a row of pines.
Do you keep the trunk to use as firewood? I know it’s not the best wood for heating, but we try to only use waste wood. In case you do just burn it all, let me know. We have neighbours (new ones, Trish and Ian) who I think would be happy to come and remove the chunky parts.
We use what we can for firewood, most of these trees were rotten and no good for fire wood.