Pine Tree - clean up needles?

[bsinatra24]

Hi,
I have a 60'-70' pine tree in my front yard (I think it's a Blue Spruce). The ends of the lowest branches scrape the ground around its entire apron. So, the entire area within the apron is littered with dead pine needles. My concerns are as follows:
Do I just leave them and let nature do its thing?
Should I clean the area out, so that it's nearly all soil showing?
Does either affect the health of the tree?
I have cleaned it out 2x over the past six years, but never really have before that. My concern is that it's so tall, that I don't want to continue doing something detrimental to its health. We get strong storm and winds here in the Chicago 'burbs, and I don't want to worry that it falls on my house. I know the roots are very deep and spread throughout the yard, and a tree knows how to do it's own thing; but I just want to help it stay strong and healthy.
(Sidebar - I have used the Miracle-Gro Fertilizer Spikes in the past; every 2 years for the past 8 years. I alternate by using them in the spring, then in the fall 2 years later, then back to spring, etc.)
Any advice/feedback on this would be much appreciated! Thanks!

[GardeningCook]

Whether or not you sweep out the needles (which I wouldn't bother doing) won't have any effect on the ultimate health of the tree. I'd leave the needles be.

[mkat]

We have plenty of evergreen trees on our property and never clean up the pine needles. First the needles actually help to protect the ground from weeds. Secondly, that would be a never ending task, requiring constant work and no gain. Let the needles be

[Smallgardener]

I have heard that the pine needles have a PH on the acid side. That is good in our area because we have high ph soils. Somehow the needles create an acid soil over time that the pine trees like. I have a neighbor that has some large pine trees. I have used some of the needles from them to mulch my little seedling trees. It works good for that.