What to do with Pine Trees

Pine trees are a versatile, plentiful and useful species whether you're building with it or making pine needle tea

There's something about the distinct pine scent from these deciduous trees that's instantly recognizable and enjoyable. 

Whether you've got ponderosa pines, eastern white pines or any other species, most pine trees are incredibly useful. While there are some challenges in using them for building materials, they're hardy, handy and incredibly valuable.

And there's no point in letting any part of them go to waste, from pine needles or pine cones to their bark. Even pine sap can potentially be put to use, so here are some uses for every part of the pine tree.

Building lumber

Pine wood is one of the most common species used in the production of dimensional lumber in North America. Many pine species are durable, easy to farm and harvest and they're also light and easy to transport.

Do you have pine trees, either standing or felled logs, sitting on your property? If so, you have access to some solid lumber. There are lots of reasons why builders use pine, and here's a few:

Pros to Pine

• • It's a staple softwood with high elasticity, making it less likely to break

  • It's plentiful with a cheap selling price

  • Has a clean look that stains or paints well

Cons to Pine

• • It's a sappy wood that can easily gum up your tools

  • It doesn't have the durability of hardwoods

  • It's easy to get knotty, unsightly boards from it

If you own a portable sawmill, milling your own pine wood boards means you can get whatever dimensions you want and hand pick logs with fewer branches or knots. Some woodlot owners grow and harvest pines while others salvage them from the forest floor.

Pine is a reliable, consistent building material, though if you're working on furniture or something that will see a lot of use or take a beating, you may want to opt for a hardwood or other wood species.

Pine Resin

Dried pine sap smells amazing and it's a highly sought after material by artisans. Pine pitch can easily be scraped off a tree or, depending on when it's felled, can even be collected from the log after being cut.

Some uses for pine sap include:

• • Scented candles: Mix this in with a candle-making kit or concoct your own candle recipe at home, mixing in a bit of pine resin to get that sweet pine aroma

  • Incense: Dried and mixed into incense, this smell will stick around in the air if burned

  • Soaps: Want to make your hands smell like a pine forest? Just mix a bit of pine sap into your soaps. Top with a few pine needles or pine cone fragments to give the impression of a fresh forest walk

  • Gum: Pine gum can be chewed as is, just remember to spit it out when you're done

  • Reusable food wrap: Some inventive creators use pine resin, bees wax and fabric to create an alternative to cling wrap. It lasts longer and doesn't have to be thrown out after each use

  • Adhesive: Mix in a bit of water to revitalize it, then use it as a soft adhesive. Mix in some pine wood shavings or sawdust to make an impromptu wood filler

  • Essential Oils: Organic, therapeutic and relaxing. Some health nuts swear by pine essential oils, so why not give pine resin oils a shot?

Pine Needles

Pine needles are everywhere. Trees drop needles them all the time, they're easy to collect and if you cut down a pine tree you're bound to end up with loads of them. Thankfully pine needles also have a ton of uses.

Did you know? Pine needle tea was used to prevent scurvy? Pine needles have a ton of nutritional value, and while it may not taste great compared to the teas you can get at the grocery store, pine needles have been used for its medicinal benefits for hundreds of years. Maybe give pine needle tea a try sometime to see what it's like?

Otherwise, here are some other uses for pine needles lying around your property:

• • Tinder: Dried pine needles burn very easily and can be used as a handy firestarter. Just leave some pine needles out to dry for the season or collect some from the forest floor. A bit of pine pitch to boot and you have a recipe for a quick and easy fire

  • Bug Repellant: On top of being a wonderful smell, burning pine needles also has the benefit of keeping away bugs. Start a fire and throw in a load of pine needles and as they sizzle watch as the blackflies and mosquitos fly away in fear

  • Mulch: Pine needle mulch can be really heathy for garden plants, according to some avid gardeners who use the material to keep their soil healthy and their plants growing

  • Smoker: Do you own a smoker? Toss in a bundle of pine needles and watch as it burns and infuses your meats with the delightful aroma of a pine forest

Pine Bark

Pine bark is wonderful because it's hardy and when it decays it contributes nutritionally back to the soil content. Mulch with pine bark has multiple benefits, so let's go over a few.

• • Superior erosion control: by laying pine mulch over an area, thus protecting it from rainfall

  • Pine mulch naturally repels weeds, helping keep your property weed free

  • This specific kind of mulch decays slower, giving it more longevity over standard mulch mixes

  • Pine bark has a natural, healthy appearance that makes it aesthetically pleasing for any garden

So if you're thinking about ways to save and reuse your pine bark, consider reusing it as mulch. Plan on milling up some pine wood on your portable sawmill? Scrape off the bark and save it for later, it could be a great resource for your property.

Pine Nuts

Did you know pine nuts are not only edible, but traditional cooking and baking ingredient used in a number of dishes? Pine nuts are plentiful in any pine forest, so you should have no trouble collecting them from trees or off the ground.

Here are a handful of ideas of what to make with pine nuts:

• • Hummus: Lots of people use toasted pine nuts ground into hummus. Keep a few to put on top for decoration and you've got a refreshing and delightful snack

  • Pinoli Cookies: These cookies are made with almond flour made with pine nuts. There are lots of recipes online, so give it a try

  • Pesto: Add some ground pine nuts to your pesto to give it a refreshing forest flavor

  • Salad Topping: One of the most common uses for pine nuts is in salads. You can either mix it in, but it looks great as a salad topping. Turn your salad into a conversation piece

  • Meat Seasoning: Dry your pine nuts in the oven then grind them and you have a pine seasoning you can use for chicken, pork or cured meats

It's also good to know that pine nuts can be frozen, meaning if you're worried about them going bad you can toss them in your freezer to use later!

All kinds of pine uses

There's no limit to what you can do with pine trees. Turn its branches into walking sticks, use them as decorations around Christmas time or use pine bark for art projects.

Whether you've got a wonderful white pine forest already or want to get started with just some ponderosa pine seeds, there's plenty of ways to get started in harvesting pine. Start a woodlot with several species like fir trees or red oaks and find out the benefits each tree has to offer.