I love natural pine because it lends one of the most powerful scents to your Christmas centerpiece. I tend the snip the ends and cut them back a bit.
First - the cut actually releases more pine scent and makes your centerpiece smell wonderful.
Second - without clipping some of the pine back, the centerpiece can take on the look of a hair ball in no time flat!
It doesn't take much of a snip here or there to keep the unruly Christmas greenery in check. Don't make too perfect of a cut or it won't look natural.
Take short snips and give it a choppy finish for a more natural look.
As you add greens, continue to press down to splay the greenery in an outward direction and also help conceal that florist clay when the centerpiece is completed.
As you can see, even with just a few stems of Christmas evergreens the centerpiece is beginning to fill in nicely.