You are very probably accurate in your observation that the pines have dried the ground beneath them out. Open-grown pines do a good job of that. What they will have done to the soil depends on how much needle litter has been lying on the ground and the original soil type, - and how long they have been there. If needle litter has been accumulating, then some degree of podzolization may have occurred. This means that organic acids from the decaying needles loosen and solublize useful minerals in the soil, which then get leached downwards, leaving a depleted, sandy upper soil level and a 'pan' lower down where iron oxide and clay minerals will have accumulated. The overall effect is acidification and impoverishment of the soil, though it is unlikely that a windbreak would have resulted in an ironpan that actually impedes drainage. If you dig deeply, to mix the soil layers up again, that will go some way to restoring your soil. Animal manure of course is very good for repairing soil structure as well as supplying an ongoing source of mineral nutrients.

I am so happy as I am pretty much planning to do what you suggested. Rotary hoe the area & add well rotted sheep manure before I plant all my fruit trees & sow a herbal ley underneath. I'm also planning to plant lots of comfrey & tansey & things like that to bring up the nutrients from under the ground.

Explains too why we have bulk docks & thistles & not much else in certain areas. I've been making liquid green manure with them which really pongs! & trying to compost the non-flowering/seed headed bits.

All the pines are at least 80 years old so our back block of bush is quite sickly. It has several feet of decaying pine needles in places. Plan A is just to fell all the pines in situ & get them out as & when we can as access is too bad for anyone commercial to come in without charging megabucks.

Now all I have to do is talk nicely to my neighbour who has a baby pine hedge he is nuturing & even watering - right next to his wife's vege garden - eek!!!

If you are cutting them off at ground level it might be better to leave about 1M of the base, so you can use it for leverage. Also try and get out as many roots as you can, because Pine trees will attract root rot which will wipe out your fruit trees in the future.

eek! it's all good news isn't it !!! I'll have to see what we can do as the root systems are humungous. We're not talking little saplings here.

Hi Liz--we bowled over some 40-50 year old pines, the light was great after the gloom those mongrels cast!! All the needles are a great mulch layered with your sheep/cattle woopsies--sow your comfrey etc direct in this area and let nature do the hard yakka to nourish the soil. We didn't do any digging--worms appear from seemingly nowhere and do the digging and you should be planting in the spring. I had great results from the smaller trees as they acclimatised faster--Good luck, Sandra

Brrrrrrrrr, what a shame you're down there and i'm up here (Tuakau). I could do with some firewood.

Hope it all went well. Philip