We live on a property which has been colonised by pine trees over the years, not a very nice variety of pine either. Even the saw millers don’t want to take them because the wood is so soft.
At one time we were told that the property had been cleared by the previous owners, and then within a couple of years, all the pines had returned. Opportunistic is such an apt word for them.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m as much of a tree hugger as I can be, but this is a complicated problem. The shedded pine needles make the soil acidic and not good for much…except growing lantana…some of which we’ve been able to remove with hard effort. It climbs up the pines to a height of 20 or 30 feet.
The pines provide a delicious staple diet for the black cockatoos who invade our place in January each year. What do you call a lot of these birds gorging themselves on pine cone seeds, and swooping from tree to tree? Well, a cacophony of cockatoos, of course. The cockies sadly are an endangered species because trees everywhere are being removed.

The big old pine next to the yoga shed is one that the cockies particularly like to dine out on. Unfortunately it will cast a long shadow over the solar panels we are putting on the roof, come December.
It’s so hard to do the right thing.