Each day I've been walking the dog, I've been gathering pine cones. I've got about 18 gal bucket of them already from this past two weeks.
I want to break them into smallest possible pieces to use in building the soil. I will cover the English Ivy that I've been getting rid of for the last few years. It is on a hill. I want to rework that entire area. Last year my neighboor cut down the big shade tree that provided shade to that area - which has hostas and other plants that prefere more shady conditions. Clay is not easy.
My plan is to bag the pin cones in sturdy bags and run over them with the car tires. I'll put layers of newspaper, pine cone bits, wetted down cardboard, a little garden soil, a roll of craft paper to really make a light barrier, dog hair and coffee grounds and kitchen scrapes, more paper-shredded, more organic stuff to hold down the shredded paper, the compost from the bin from last year, 40 pounds of bagged manue, etc.
No till garden and mostly no IVY is my hope. I'll cover the entire area with mulch and next year, or later this fall, plant some interesting shrubs and flowers and bulbs. It will make more sunny room to grow some veggies in 2014.
Any other way to break down the pine cones? no lawnmower, so can't mulch them.
Oh and one more thing I'll do. I read that worms love to eat not just paper, but cracked corn. So I'll sprinkle cracked corn down first, right in the ivy, to draw up the worms to work this clay ivy hill.