Best Ways to Recycle Your Christmas Trees After the Holidays
Best Ways to Recycle Your Christmas Trees After the Holidays
Once the holidays are over, you may start wondering what you should be doing with your live Christmas tree. While it may seem like a huge task, recycling your tree is fairly easy and can be done in a variety of ways.
Here are our top suggestions for recycling your Christmas trees after the holidays.
Use it for Plant Nutrients
If you don’t want to haul your tree away and would rather find a use for it at home, why not use it to fertilize the other plants you have?
Pine needles are actually an ideal substance for making a moisturizing, nurturing mulch for your garden. You can also shred up the branches of your Christmas trees to make a heavier mulch, depending on what it’s being used for.
Over time, the mulch will add an array of nutrients to the soil. If you don’t need additional mulch, you can also cut the trunk of the tree into small wooden discs and use them as a border for your garden or flower beds.
Plant Your Tree
If you bought a Christmas tree with a bulb, you can still replant it and let it thrive in your yard. While this isn’t the easiest option on our list, it’s a great way to add some evergreen to your landscaping and keep the memories of this holiday season alive.
There are, however, a few key points to keep in mind before diving straight into this task.
If the tree in question has been cut , or has a damaged root ball, you should not attempt to replant it. You should also not plant any trees that have dried out. This means that you should consider where the tree was in your home, and avoid replanting any that sat next to a heater the whole holiday season.
Once you have determined that your tree isn’t too dry or damaged, you can start the replanting process. If you live in a colder climate, it may not be the prime time to plant a tree. In this case, just set it in a cold, more sheltered area until the temperature gets warmer. Just remember to water it every few weeks or so. For those of you in a warmer climate, you should have no issues planting your tree after you take it out of your home.
Drop it Off
If you have a local tree drop-off in your city, this is a fairly quick and easy way to dispose of your tree while still doing some good with it. Recycled trees can help your local area with providing habitats to local fish, or even mulch for playgrounds and other community areas.
Your city might even have a Christmas tree recycling event, so it will be even easier to find and go to. If you are unsure what your local area has, check with your city government for more details.
Use it for Firewood
If you don’t have any decorative use for your old Christmas tree, you can always recycle it for firewood as well. It’s cold enough to chop up and use in your fireplace for some additional cozy moments this winter. Or if you don’t have an indoor fireplace, you could have a winter bonfire with it as well.
To do this, simply chop up your old Christmas tree branches into the logs you want to burn, Just make sure that you wait for them to dry completely before you use them, or that they are not wet. Using types of wood that aren’t ready to be burned can cause a fire hazard.
Use it Indoors
If you would like the tree to continue to share its beauty and scents in your home, there’s an easy way to make that happen.
You can do something simple like using pine needles in a bowl of potpourri for an air freshener, or even try some of these more complicated tree recycling ideas.
We hope that no matter how you recycle your tree, you find a solution that is perfect for you and know that you did something kind for the planet today.
Let us know how you are recycling your tree this year, and we hope you have a wonderful rest of your holiday season!
