How many hours have you spent picking up pine cones in your
yard or garden? Probably
too many to suit. But one type of pine has cones so rarely that
this fall, cones on the
ground signal the start of an unusual new crop of valuable
trees.

"Longleaf pines produce a good crop of cones only about
every seven to 10
years," said Dave Moorhead, a forest regeneration
specialist with the University of
Georgia Extension Service.

"This year’s crop could be as much as three to five
times better than the 1987
crop," he said. "That will make it the best in
decades."

Longleaf pines are prized for their needles and timber. The
needles provide an
excellent mulch around flower beds or shrubs. The straight, knot-
free timber is often used
for poles or high quality lumber.

Moorhead figures well-managed longleaf pines in a good site
can be worth up to 20
percent more than other pines.

"About 65 percent of a longleaf pine stand will go to
poles," he said. Slash
or loblolly pines can grow to pole stature, but much more
rarely.

But the longleaf pine supply has dwindled. These premium
products are harder to find.

About 100 years ago, Moorhead said, longleaf pines covered
nearly 60 million acres. But
since then, their area has declined to about 5 million acres. As
landowners cut their
longleaf pines for their premium wood, they didn’t always
replant the land to longleaf pines.

"Slash and loblolly pines grow much more quickly and
make a good seed crop nearly
every year," Moorhead said. As longleaf pines were cut,
slash and loblolly pines
slowly took over the land.

Farmers or landowners with these pines can help regenerate
the species, Moorhead said.
"Identify which trees in the stand are longleaf. Then pick
out about 20 to keep for
their cones."

Clearing other trees and brush helps ensure that only
longleaf cones release their
seeds into the area. They can also grow without other trees
competing for sunlight, water
and nutrients.

Seed collectors may approach people who own stands of
longleaf pines. The collectors
harvest cones from select trees before they open and release
their seeds.

Nurseries often buy the cones and plant the seeds. Longleaf
pines can grow well in
nurseries to be transplanted in land far away from the original
trees.

In September and October, the pine cones open and drop their
seeds. But Moorhead said
people must start preparing now if they choose to regenerate the
trees on their land.

"This may be our best chance for another five or more
years to increase the number
of longleaf pines in our area," he said. "So
landowners need to act quickly to
prepare for this opportunity."