Virginia Pine

[ron barnes]

I have a couple of acres of Virginia Pine  that was supposed to be a Christmas tree farm.  A lot of them are in the 10 inch range and 30-40 foot tall.  I am wondering about cutting them and making raised bed garden beds.  I am curious about how long they would last.  I appreciate all your advice.

[Southside]

Not long at all, few years at best. It does make for a nice interior paneling. 

[ron barnes]

Thanks Southside.  That was sort of my thoughts.

[Stumpjump]

Virginia pine is interesting stuff that gets a bad rap.  They'll grow in the worst soil, even pure clay.  They are brittle and often collapse in ice storms.  The tree is certainly ugly, gloomy-looking with small ratty needles and thin ratty bark.  But our goats love to eat the branches, stripping both the needles and the bark.  The wood gets quite hard when dry.  If you cut one down, check out the dead-limb stubs clinging all over it; they're as hard as rock.  It tends to have very tight. attractive growth rings, like slow-grown oak.  I would think it's way stronger than white pine and maybe stronger than some other pines used for lumber.  The trees have a pronounced resinous odor.  Logs from trees with good form make decent lumber that nails and screws well.  Logs from the lower bole are best for lumber because they have the fewest knots.  The boards and timbers are good for general construction but don't even think about using it in ground contact.

[kantuckid]

In KY, the state tree farm operated by the state forestry dept, Virgina Pine is one of their main trees grown based on commercial value and suitability for this area. I was told by my forester, when I planted my plot of alternating rows of V. pine and EWP, to be careful not to "J-root" the Virgina seedlings as its a species that can be a bit delicate for our climate which is some years colder than the more common spots it grows naturally. Thats said it's a native species in this state and after it has good roots, very hardy.  
The 2x6's I've been processing from trees to lumber to T&G decking now- this past year came off our place and include SYP, Virginia Pine and Field pine, AKA Pitch pine. Even Pitch pine in a good tree, (not the type that eat you up cutting :D) can be a decent wood to build with. My plantations too young to harvest. The sunlit edges have EWP thats nearing 13-15" DBH while V pines a few were large enough to cut my log ceiling joists already. 
Not much wood that likes ground contact. 

[firefighter ontheside]

Our virginia pine on my place seem to grow with a pyramidal shape for a while, but I still don't think they would make a good Christmas tree.  They seem to be too sparsely branched to look good.  We had a spot that was a labyrinth of Virginia pine that had so many dead lower limbs that you could not walk thru the area.  Those dead lower limbs are like iron.

[Don P]

And kind of like scarlet oak they hang on to them forever making black knots, finally break off and invite water and ants into the heart along that punky hiway.