We had to cut down two very large pine trees this summer. One had already fallen and bounced off a power line. The pine were removed by a crane and stacked on a truck because so tall. One was half dead. Some pines do not get deep roots.
In my area it was common for people building houses in the 60's and 70's to plant pine for privacy. Unfortunately builders and landscapers planted them way too close to houses. These monsters will cause monster damage with a bad storm or like we had a micro burst. A neighbor down the street was lucky as their pine fell between their house and barely missed a roof across the street. Many of us have been dealing with these old pines.
There is different information about shallow roots. A couple stand outs were; pines should not be planted as a stand alone and need more of a forest type area, over saturated ground, planted in ground that is too compact and roots that have been disturbed and thus start the root damage. I think mine at times was over saturation and not enough planted together.
So what happed after the pines came down? Well we started to get weeds. I let it go because I wanted to see what the bunnies and birds would bring to the party. We now have a cool area of thistle and native, non native flowers and herbs in an oval section.
In the Fall we will be fencing it in so it can go any further and over run our yard. It has brought joy! We have beautiful monarchs hanging out and my favorite so far are finches literally sitting on a thistle head and eating! I can't believe the thistle holds them up! Some people really hate thistle. They look at and scream weed! I think the purple flowers are pretty. However I must say most thistle is considered an invasive weed....why? Because a lot are not from your area and well the bottom line is it ruins farmer's fields. I don't have a farm next door so I will continue to feed the butterflies, birds and anyone else showing up! The bunnies love hiding in the thick wild flower brush too!
