I have had pine needles in my yard naturally and they do a wonderful job at helping protect from heaving and keeping my pots warm and cozy. Unfortunetly, I have had to cut three of the trees down due to their excessive leaning before they decided to fall on their own.
I also have a neighboor who has a large number of oak trees and the wind pushes them to me where they over winter. They "protect" my driveway bed nicely as well.
