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The Best Gutter Guards For Pine Needles in 2021

Gutter Guards for Pine Needles
This needle can’t get caught in or get through MasterShield Gutter Guard’s filter

Finally, effective gutter guards for pine needles!

Pine needles cause major problems for your gutters if you live under or near pine or fir trees.

The long and flexible needles fall in clumps.

The easy way to tell if a tree is pine and not any other type of conifer is by its needles.

If the tree has needles that form in bundles or clumps called fascicles, it is a pine tree. If they have single needles, it is not.

But who cares, right? Any tree that drops pine needles is a pain to have near your home.

And a lot of homes in every part of North America have a pine tree near them making them one of the top problems a gutter guard has to deal with.

Pine needles tend to clog gutters at a rapid pace because the first thing that they do that causes clogs is knit together over the opening that drains water to your downspout.

Even a few falling in these bundles causes the whole gutter to back up and overflow if the amount of water that flows out of your downspout is limited.

A Gutter Guard Designed Specifically with Pine Needles in Mind

If you’re looking for gutter guards that won’t allow a single pine needle to enter your gutter, you’ve come to the right place.
Do you also want to make sure your gutter guards don’t suffer from the second greatest cause of gutter guard failure?
Read on! The Copper Makes the Difference!

Homeowners without pine or fir trees really don’t understand how bad these trees make gutter cleaning and why finding effective gutter guards for pine needles solves so many problems.

Unlike other types of gutter guards with larger openings that let material in to clump in the gutter, MasterShield’s are constructed with a non-stick, 316 surgical grade stainless steel microfilter that features 99.9% pure copper threads woven throughout the filter. It does not allow the tips of pesky needles or other types of debris in. But it also helps deal with issues that pine trees tend to bring, like moss or lichen.

Copper, you see is a natural organic killer and literally bursts the cells of moss, algae and lichen pores.  A stainless steel filter can’t do this on it’s own.

Stainless steel filters are actually used in fish tanks to grow organics on them.

According to TheSprucePets.com, “Filter media is an excellent seeding material. The easiest way to use this method is to place an extra filter on an established tank for a few weeks to allow nitrifying bacteria to grow on the filter media.”

While that may be great for your pet fish, it’s not what you want from a filter in a gutter guard.

Anyone saying stainless steel alone will stop moss, lichen and algae from growing on it, hasn’t put their product under a pine tree.

MasterShield will keep out your pine needles along with anything else trees around your home drop on your roof.  It will also keep those organics from causing issues with your filter over time.  Nothing protects a home like MasterShield!

Ready for a free estimate? Click on the button below or read on!

Top Features in a Gutter Guard to Stop Pine Needles From Clogging Gutters

Roof Slope

First, you’ll want a system design that slopes like your roof so it doesn’t create a surface where pine needles can build up.

Unlike other systems, MasterShield is not installed flat or virtually flat. 

It is installed as close as possible to the pitch of the roof to minimize material build up and use wind or any natural airflow to blow the needles off your roof. 

If the surface over your gutter is virtually the same as the rest of your roof, your gutter cover acts as if it’s a part of the roof itself.

If you live with the problem of needles, you’re well aware that gutters collect this kind of debris fast as pine needles blow into your gutter by rolling down the roof or flow into it by mixing with rainwater.

As wind or rain slowly pushes the needles down to the roof’s edge, the won’t find a place to build up like they can on other products. 

Note the gutter guard won’t shed this debris any faster than the roof itself.  

Water has a much better chance of flowing though a system pitched this way because it flows through any layers of pine needle build up that may exist.

Think of a book where water can get between all the pages from it’s side rather than dropping onto the solid surface of its cover.

Water can get through a system like this better than it can get through a system that sits flat and creates that solid surface like the book cover.

Gutter guards without much pitch create a shelf for needles to collect and build on. 

Pitching the system also allows wind to take care of most of the maintenance.

It can blow off more material, resulting in less maintenance than other systems require.

Contacts Roof Shingles

Secondly, MasterShield maintains contact with the roof shingles

Other systems that claim they don’t touch the shingles leave a gap between the shingle and the gutter guard. This causes a couple of issues:

  1. Pine needles can blow under and build up under the shingles, where they stay wet longer.  
  2. This means they act as a sponge and cause premature aging to the shingle edge or to the wooden fascia board where the gutter is attached.  
  3. Our Shingle Safe under-the-shingle installation methodology has been approved by GAF, Certainteed, IKO and Owens-Corning, so you can rest assure our guards for pine needles can be installed this way.
  4. Water that drops off of a shingle edge onto the gutter guards below have a tendency to splash more.  
  5. That’s because water bounces off the filter once it drops onto the cover.  
  6. This means the guard tends not to capture all of the water off the roof.  
  7. Splashing water often leads to rot on any wooden surface it comes in contact with.
 

Fine Mesh Filters are Better for Shedding Pine Needles

A third feature of MasterShield is its fine mesh filter

A fine mesh design means that needles can’t get stuck in the mesh.  

When a filter that has larger openings is used, it’s common to see needles stuck in the mesh of the gutter guard.  

A filter that has larger holes also creates a surface where debris catches on and gets stuck, meaning that it’s less likely to shed.

MasterShield’s filter surface is like Teflon, so it’s easy to brush clean of anything that sits on it

This means wind does the work so that you wind up with a gutter guard that requires  occasional maintenance, typically where there’s no wind.

The Touch Point Structure Pulls Water Through the Filter

The fourth feature of MasterShield is its touch point structure.

This refers to the technology used to pull water into the gutter cover.

Think of being in a tent in the rain and how dry you can stay with only a piece of cloth over your head.  

Then think of what happens when you touch the roof of the tent.  

That touch point creates a whole new scenario where you’ve created a way for water to get through the tent and flow down your finger.

A single touch point doesn’t do much, but a lot of them can, especially if your goal is to get all the water hitting your tent to flow into the tent itself.

That’s what we’re trying to do with our gutter guard technology.

Touch points should be continuously placed underneath the filter, particularly if you add an angled pitch to the guard. 

If you don’t have enough touch points or stagger them in any way (it changes the forward flow of water), they are just not as efficient at pulling water into the gutter below.

Oh, and if you’re concerned about pine tree sap, as the filter gets enough water on it, the sap will wash away, just like syrup does when you wash it off a dish.

The Moss Killer, a Must Have in a Gutter Guard Dealing with Pine Needles

Lastly, pine trees cast lots of shade.

And shady conditions can lead to the growth of moss and lichen which exist in most parts of the country.  

Invisible spores from these organisms are everywhere looking for a place with enough moisture to grow.

And isn’t a gutter or the gutter guard that exact place?  

The copper threads woven into our gutter guard systems are natural spore killers. 

Copper ions are released in water creating a hostile environment for any spore and making sure a MasterShield filter remains free from organic build up for many years.

What Pine Trees Will MasterShield Protect Your Home and Gutters From?

MasterShield will keep out all of the needles from common North American pines such as:
Gutter Guards for Pine Needles

  • Eastern White Pine – a messy but fast growing tree found in Zones 3-8. 
  • It bears five needles per bundle, some say these bundles look like little brushes.   
  • It drops pine cones, sap and pollen in the spring along with needles which all contribute to its messiness.
  • Western White Pine – also called Silver Pine or California Mountain Pine.  
  • It also has needles in bundles of 5 but they tend to stay on the tree longer that the Eastern White Pine (2–3 years, rather than 1.5–2 years). 
  • Its cones are larger and it grows taller, too. It’s hardy to Zone 4.
  • Sugar Pine – another tree of the Pacific Northwest, this tree is also has 5 needle bundles.  
  • It has the largest cones and grows the tallest of the Pinus species of trees.
  • Red Pine – also known as a Norway pine. 
  • This tree grows very straight and has needles that grow in groups of two. 
  • The needles are brittle and break easily.  It drops cones and is known for being self pruning. 
  • This means that you’ll find the bottom trunk branchless with all the needles falling from the upper limbs of the tree.
  • Pitch Pine – a small to medium size tree, it has an irregular shape. Its needles grow in groups of three and can be slightly twisted.  
  • It is hardy in Zones 6-9.  It tends to grow in sandy soil.
  • Jack Pine – grows in Zones 4-6.  Another tree common to sandy soil, it can be shrub sized and irregular shaped. 
  • Its needles grow in groups of two and can also be twisty. 
  • Unusually, it’s pointy cones can curl around the branch where they form.
  • Longleaf Pine – has the longest leaves of the eastern pine species, and is the state tree of Alabama. 
  • It remains in a grass-like stage for 5-7 years following germination to allow for the root system to develop, after which it grows at an average rate of 13’’ – 24’’ a year until matured (typically when it reaches 60-80’). 
  • It takes nearly half of its 300+ year life to fully mature and needs partial to full sun to do so. 
  • Has flexible dark green needles that can be 18’’ long, usually in bundles of 3. Its cones are on the larger side. 
  • The Longleaf pine can be found from southeastern Virginia to Florida, west through Louisiana to east Texas (Zones 7-10).
    Gutter Guards for Pine Needles
  • Shortleaf Pine – also known as the Southern Yellow pine or the Short Straw pine, is native to the area from southern New York state south to northern Florida, west to eastern Oklahoma, and southwest to eastern Texas. 
  • It varies in form when fully mature, but usually reaches 60-100’. 
  • The needles are typically shorter than 5’’ and are found in bundles of 2-3. 
  • The Shortleaf pine drops short, prickly cones during the summer and fall.
  • Loblolly Pine – was once an important lumber tree because of its relative abundance. 
  • It is one of the fastest growing southern pines (over 24” a year), often reaching 60-100’ when fully mature. Grows in a variety of soils, but needs full sun. 
  • Typically found as far north as New Jersey and as far south as Texas and Florida (Zones 6-9).
  • It produces yellow-green needles that are 6-10’’ long and sometimes twisted. Drops brown cones. 
  • Since the tree loses its bottom branches as it ages, it is a good shade tree.
  • Slash Pine is also a faster growing southern pine (up to 24’’ a year), that stands 75-100’ tall when fully mature. 
  • It is often used abundantly in reforestation because of its size and fast growth. 
  • Requires moist, acidic soil and partial to full sunlight to grow. It has glossy dark green needles that are up to 12’’ long and are usually in bundles of 2-3. They are primarily found in the southeastern US (Zones 8-10). 
  • Its cones are small, elongated, and purple. 
  • Similar to the Loblolly, this tree loses bottom branches as it ages, making it a good shade tree.
  • Virginia Pine – also known as the Jersey pine and scrub pine, was used medicinally by the Cherokee.
  • It is not fire resistant, unlike many of the other pines on this list, and typically lives no more than 150 years. 
  • It is found in eastern US (mostly Zone 6), mostly commonly in Ohio. 
  • Usually inhabits sterile soil, which attributes to its scrub-like appearance and slow growth to 40’ when mature. 
  • It has short needles that range in color from yellow-green to gray-green. 
  • They shed every 3-4 years. It drops cones, sap, and pollen during the summer and fall as nearly all pine trees do.
  • Ponderosa Pine – is the major species used for tree-ring dating. 
  • Grows to over 200’ according to the National Park Service and large ponderosas can live for 500+ years. 
  • Full sunlight is ideal for this wind-resistant and fire-resistant tree that is native to western US. 
  • It has medium length yellow-green needles in bundles of 3. 
  • The state tree of Montana produces a sweet aroma and was used extensively by Native Americans as food and medicine.
  • Pinyon Pine – nearly never grows above 20’ and thrives in its native American Southwest, where it is the state tree of Nevada and New Mexico. 
  • It grows at a very slow rate and can live 600+ years. 
  • Grows best in well-drained soil that gets full sunlight in Zones 4-8. 
  • It has yellow-green needles no more than 2’’ long that shed every 8-9 years. 
  • The pinyon produces small brown pine nuts that can be eaten raw or toasted.
  • Jeffrey Pine – is also known as the Yellow pine or Black pine. 
  • It is found primarily in California and reaches heights of 80-130’ when fully mature. 
  • It grows in high altitude areas. 
  • The Jeffrey pine has gray green needles that grow up to 9’’ long. 
  • It is similar to the Ponderosa pine, but its cones are different as its barbs point inwards. 
  • The scent of this tree is most often described as smelling like butterscotch.
  • Lodgepole Pine – has dark green needles that occur in bunches of 2 and are often twisted in a spiral. 
  • It can grow in a variety of soil types and is known for being one of the first trees to invade areas after wildfires. 
  • Arguably, the Lodgepole pine has the widest range of environmental tolerance of conifers in North America. 
  • This tree grows up to 100’ tall. 
  • It proliferates most often in fully shaded areas throughout Western US (Zones 4-8). Pollen sheds from the tree in late June.
 
Have one of these trees in your yard or is one from a neighboring property filling your gutters with the needles dropped by these trees? Time to call MasterShield and stop climbing your ladder to clean your gutters.

Looking for the Best Gutter Guards for Fir Trees, MasterShield is Still Your Best Choice

Not  every conifer tree is actually a pine tree. 

Other common trees that drop needles that are found around the homes we live in are Cypress, Cedar, Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Spruce trees.

Fir needles are sticky and will follow the guard curve to get into the gutter. 

Look under the curve – every place where they have built up, water cannot easily flow into the gutter.

Fir needles often blanket your roof.

Wind will push most of them down towards your gutter, so consider a system that can shed lots of material.

Wet fir needles “glue” themselves to the surface they’re on.

If you install a fir tree leaf guard, choose a system that won’t sit flat on your gutter.
 
A system that is designed to pitch with the roof line and not lift roof shingles like MasterShield are the better options for fir tree gutter guards. 
 
Thick leaf guards can cause shingle lift, one with a shingle safe back like MasterShield is best and is approved by four roof shingle manufacturers.
 
Nothing bigger than 50 microns can get through; fir needles just can’t cause a clog.
 
Water hits the surgical grade stainless steel filter and reacts as if there was no cover at all.
 
Best of all, MasterShield comes with the most comprehensive warranty in the business.

For more information about the best covers for pine needles, or if you’re experiencing issues with Gutter Guards for Oak Trees or Gutter Guards for Maple Trees complete our free gutter guard estimate form and speak with a experienced MasterShield dealer.