The Best Ways to Pick Up Pine Cones in Your Yard

Knowing how to pick up pine cones that are littering around your yard is important, especially if you are surrounded by pine trees. These pine cones will continue to be an issue each year, so being able to get them and have them picked up the right way can save you time. Not only is it important to know how to pick up these pine cones, but what you do with them after the fact is important so that you do not have them piling up on your property.

How To Pick Up Pine Cones

Depending on how many pine cones are falling in your yard at a time, some methods may work better for you than others. There are a few ways below listed in order of most labor-intensive to the easiest pickup.

1. Pick up by Hand

This method requires you to do a lot of bending, walking, and picking up each pine cone until it is gone. It is very labor-intensive, and not ideal if you suffer from back issues or need to get this project done quickly. If you are interested in getting the exercise, however, or want to use it as a chore for children, it is a great task to assign.

Most homeowners only use this method between larger clean-ups, when they walk through their yard and find new ones that have fallen. If you do decide to use your hands, you want to make sure you put on gloves because the pine cones can stab your fingers and be painful.

2. Raking the Pine Cones

If you have a large number of pine cones to remove from the property but don’t want to bend every other second, then you can bring out your rake and quickly start raking the pine cones into a group. If you have multiple trees that are dropping pine cones throughout the property, it is best to start a pile beneath each tree. You could find yourself outside raking for a couple of hours, but it will cut the time in half from using your hand to pick up each one.

Make sure you have your glove for this method and your wheelbarrow nearby. You will have to do some bending when you scoop up the pine cones with the rake and take them to the wheelbarrow. At that time they can be transported away so that your yard is clear. This is great for families, as long as you have enough rakes for each person.

3. Use a Lawn Sweeper

One of the fastest ways to pick up pine cones out of your yard is with a lawn sweeper. You can attach the sweeper to your riding lawnmower, and lift the deck. Make sure the hopper bag is on and then begin riding through your yard, sweeping. You can go in the same route you would take to cut your grass. As you go along, both pine cones and pine straw will be captured. Keep an eye on your bag, however. It can fill up quickly and need to be emptied before you can finish.

This is a great option if you have an excessive amount of pine cones in your yard. When they start falling, you could find yourself having to sweep your yard once a week to keep the debris out of the yard. Keep your gloves with you during this process in case you need to get off the mower and clean out the sweeper.

If you do not have a riding lawnmower to attach a lawn sweeper too, you can choose one of the options that are stand alone. They look like a push mower, and you just walk them around the yard, allowing them to sweep and collect the pine cones. It does require a bit more labor than a riding lawn mower, but there isn’t any bending required like with raking or picking up by hand.

Disposing of Pine Cones

Now that you have picked up and gathered the unwanted pine cones in your yard, you may be wondering what to do with them now. Although you may want to go and dump them in your neighbor’s yard, that is not the way to go.

Picked up or Dropped off in Recycling

You can use lawn garbage bags to start bagging up the unwanted pine cones and pine straws that were gathered. Once you have them bagged up, you can sit them out with your trash to be picked up by environmental services if you have home delivery.

If you are responsible for taking off your recycling, then you still want to make sure the debris is bagged and headed over to your local recycling center. Most of these facilities have a lawn debris area, and you just have to drop your bags off there.

When you bag up your debris, you should put the pine straw together and the pine cones together. Also, make sure you are using bags specifically for yard debris because they are stronger and they are able to break down and be biodegradable with the yard debris. If you are planning to add to your compost, you can just sit the pine cones to the side.

Donate Your Pine Cones

During the fall and winter months, many schools, daycares, and groups use pine cones for decorations and crafts to celebrate the season. If you have a lot of pine cones that can be used, especially the large ones, then consider bagging them and donating them to anyone who may be looking for them.

Pine straw is also great to donate. Many folks use it as a way to keep their gardens warm in the winter mulch. If you have bags of it, let it be recycled with someone who can use it instead of sending it to the landfill.

Use in Your Compost

If you have a garden and have started your own personal compost, then you can simply add the pine cones to it. They give the compost a chance to add air and fiber to the compost, which is what is needed periodically. It will take some time for it to break down, but the nutrients it offers will be worth it when you put it around your flowers and garden.

Benefits of Picking Up Pine Cones

You may be wondering why you even need to go pick up the pine cones. There may not be a lot in your yard, or you just aren’t concerned with them falling. However, they should be picked up, and there are a few reasons why.

Grass and Plant Growth

When pine cones and pine straws start to fall on the grass, they keep oxygen from getting to the grass and plants that they are falling on. In the same way, that pine straw is used to retain heat, it can prevent oxygen. If you have recently planted winter crops or plants, this could be detrimental to their health, unlike mature plants they are used to harsh conditions and can withstand some of this until you remove it.

Unwanted Pests

Because pine straw is warm and has the ability to retain heat, it is a perfect hideout for pests that can damage your yard or even cause you harm. Snakes, especially, are attracted to pine straws because the ground is getting cool when they start to fall. This means that snakes are looking for heat in all kinds of places, and pine straw can make a great nest for snakes and cover the hole, so they can come and go undetected.

Destroys Lawnmower Blades

If you think that you can just mow over the pine straw and the pine cones that have fallen in your yard, you are in for an expensive surprise. The damage that pine cones can do to lawnmowers over time will have you doing maintenance you were not prepared for. Your blades will dull on the pine cones. Too many of them can even warp your blades and require new ones after just one cut.

It’s Time To Make a Plan

Whether you want to make an investment in certain lawn items or take advantage of free but laborious methods, it is important to make sure you pick up your pine cones from your property. There are several ways to pick up pine cones, and you can make this a family project to get the pine cones up. Make sure you go ahead and start bagging up your pine straw and pine cones so that you can recycle or donate them.

As a new homeowner, you may not realize the benefits to picking them up, but leaving pine cones in your yard can not only cause clutter but can be damaging to your yard and invite unwanted guests to the property. Even if you do not pick them up each week, take the time at least once every few weeks to gather what has fallen.