November 14, 2025 – Though an evergreen, pine trees can shed needles all year long, but usually shed the most in summer and fall. Only a few species shed in the spring.
In the “old” day, it was rake and burn in the fall, along with deciduous leaves. Many studiously avoid using pine needles for mulch as their acidity can, in quantity, negatively affect the soil pH. While still green, this is true, but once they turn brown, the acidity is lost, leaving them with a neutral pH. As a result, they make an excellent mulch and are more difficult to be blown away in winter winds.
If you have too many for your garden, do to them as you would with hardwood leaves. Mow them into the grass so their nutrients can be used as a mild grass fertilizer.
Having said this, there are good and not-so-good uses for pine needles. First, your garden pathways. Feel free to put down a thick layer of pine needles. A thick layer, even up to 6-8” compacts and provides effective weed control, helps hold down the mud in wet weather, and removes the need to weeds the area next year! It can also protect fallen fruit from sitting in wet soil and helps keep it safe from insects that live in or on the soil.
Mulching pine needles directly around the vegetable or other type plants loses some of the above benefits. While they are effective in preventing weeds, pine needles do not provide effective insulation around plants left in the garden during winter. Further they don’t prevent moisture loss in the soil, but they do let water easily pass through rather than trapping in them.
Putting pine needles in a compost pile is not recommended as their waxy coating takes too long to break down.
