damn you pine trees

i don't know why some idiot city employee thought planting 50 foot pine trees would be a good idea, but they are the bane of my existence...pine needles and pine cones, i am willing to deal with...however, since it's spring, the trees are now producing these fuzzy things...

i filled an entire trash bin of this stuff, and they're not easy to rake (still have enough still on the yard to fill up another bin, but i only have one)...i might have to give in and just hire yard service...front lawns are so useless...i need to find a way to make it into an easy to maintain rock garden