PINE NEEDLES
'Are pine needles harmful to a lawn?' I was asked not long ago. I have looked after grass —not a lawn—beneath pine trees and feel that a heavy deposit of needles such as that accu- mulating in the recent hot weather tends to choke the finer grasses and forms a covering through which only the coarser growth can penetrate. Pine needles are slow to break down for they are rather woody. To say the least, 1 don't think they make an ideal lawn dressing and I should be inclined to brush them out for the same reason that I should remove clog- ging leaves from good turf. 'They may do no particular harm, but anything that is slow to become part of the soil is likely to make the grass patchy. If anyone has found pine needles beneficial on a lawn, I should like to hear about it. 'The same correspondent inquired about conifer deposits as compost. 1 haven't gone out of my way to sweep the stuff up although we have more than enough of it at the cottage, but there are many other garden residues much more suitable for composting than fibrous and woody things.
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