As before long as the holiday are over , many streets turn into Christmas Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree graveyards as people puff their trees to the curb for recycling .
If you hold up in a town that collects dead Christmas tree with your railway yard waste bin , you know these trees eventually end up as mulch once they go through the local composting deftness .
But did you know you’re able to do the same thing yourself with very trivial endeavour ?
In fact , you could do so many matter with an old Christmas tree diagram ( whether it came from an urban tree diagram lot , aChristmas tree farm , or even anational forest if you cut down your Christmas treein the wild ) that it would not be weirdat allto ask your neighbors if you could have their old trees !
If you manage tokeep your Christmas tree diagram alivefor several workweek but notice the needles dropping more frequently overnight ( a sign that it ’s drying out and no longer take in pee ) , it ’s meter to take it down . But do n’t throw it out just yet !
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A dead or go Christmas tree still has a lot of usefulness after the ornaments are put away . redeem the boughs tomulch your garden beds , make spunk for your nextbackyard bonfire , or upcycle the wood into multitudinous craft and DIY project .
All you need is a saw , a pair of pruners or loppers , and space to make a quite a little while you hack off the branches and cut up the tree trunk .
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If that sounds like too much study , just keep it as is and move it out of doors to make your own bird sanctuary or wildlife habitat .
None of this has to be done right away ( because hello , we just survived the holidays ) . you could simply squirrel away the tree in your yard to repurpose subsequently — even if it ’s months later on .
What to do with an old Christmas tree
1. Compost your Christmas tree.
If you did n’t go with apotted survive Christmas treefor the holidays , the most obvious way to give new life sentence to an previous Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is to add it to your compost galvanic pile . But or else of tossingtree parts into your compost binall at once , there ’s a better style to take advantage of all that organic thing .
First , cut the tree into little chunks and get together them into a pile in your M . get the pile sit down until the pine needles have fallen off and the branches are wry and brittle . Then , use these brown materials as a carbon source for your compost bin , as ask .
Why do it this means ? Because in winter , chocolate-brown materials are harder to come by but you ’re still farm vegetable garbage from the kitchen .
Most people do n’t have a crowing enough reserve of dried leaves , woody debris , or straw to affix all their shell , fruit peels , veg ends , and other immature scraps .
By saving the pine needle and offshoot from your dead Christmas tree , you may add together dark-brown and unripe material in the proper 2:1 proportion to your compost all season long . This helps the compost break off down quicker and observe the pile from smelling bad or turning sludgy ( a common problem in winter ) .
2. Mulch perennial beds with the boughs.
Cut off the boughs and layer them on your perennial garden beds as a natural mulch to protect the roots and prevent frost heaving . The branches are an excellent alternative to straw or wood chips , and will violate down easy over winter , adding nutrient to the soil for spring .
They ’re lumbering enough to not burn out away in winter storms , yet still permit soft new shoot to horn in through once the atmospheric condition warms up . I like to mulch my overwinteringgarlic patchwith my old Christmas garlands , as well as myasparagus bedand flower bed .
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wayward to popular belief , pine needles willnotacidify your grunge , so there ’s no need to worry about using pine needle ( also call pine straw ) as mulch .
While it ’s true that pine needles have a pH of 3.2 to 3.8 ( inert is 7.0 ) when they knock off from a tree , the acidity is neutralized by soil germ during decomposition .
Even if you dug freshly fallen pine needles into the soil aright away , you might see a slim drop curtain in pH , but this change would not be prejudicious to plants ( nor would it benefit pane - make out plants like blueberries and rhododendrons ) .
3. Chip the wood for garden paths and beds.
Wood chips are one of the best choice to fill in garden paths , smother smoke , and mulch your beds .
In fact , a thick layer of wood fries ( up to 6 in deep ) is far more in force for kill weeds than a sheet of charge plate . Wood chip shot stop sunlight while still allowing water supply and air to distribute through , so the soil solid food web stays intact . When you graze the wood poker chip aside to plant , you ’ll have healthy soil that ’s benefited from all the nutrient in the decomposing wood .
If you want to use wood chips for mulch a garden bed , a 1- to 2 - column inch layer is all that ’s postulate for controlling weeds , conserve moisture , and preventing grunge from splash up onto leaf .
If you own a Mrs. Henry Wood chipper , play the trunk and branches through a chipper to create your own constitutional mulch . No more corrupt it by the bag or hop a landscape gardener will shed off a detached consignment of chip in your private road !
you’re able to even go in with a few neighbors and charter a chipper for the weekend to chip everyone ’s drained tree diagram . Once you ’ve got a good pile , give out the chips for everyone to use in their garden .
4. Place the tree outside and turn it into a bird sanctuary.
After consider all the ornament off your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , move it outside ( still in the tree stand ) and make your own shuttle sanctuary ( or bird hotel , as I like to call it ) . you may hang raspberry feeder and suet cages from the offset , or even a birdhouse or two .
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Once spring rolls around and birds have more intellectual nourishment source usable , you may compost the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree or employ the now - dried wood for kindling or craft .
5. Turn your tree into a wildlife habitat.
If refilling bird feeders is n’t your thing , you’re able to still nurture the mini ecosystem in your G by call on your old Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree into a wildlife home ground . plainly cart it alfresco to an out - of - the - way spot in your garden and let it seat for the winter , on its side .
( Side note : If you have wimp , leaving your tree — or parts of your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree — in their streamlet is a good way to help them beat winter boredom . Several of my neighbors also toss their old trees to their goats , which eff to devour them . )
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The branches help pull in and protect birds , squirrels , chipmunk , snakes , and other wildlife that might otherwise have a hard clock time find shelter in leafless tree diagram and snow drifts .
By keep them informal in your sometime Christmas tree diagram , you keep the local wildlife from making themselves at base in your attic , service department , or basement .
Decaying wood and plant topic is also an important beginning of intellectual nourishment for dirt ball and microbes , so intend of that dead tree as life — not waste .
6. Use branches as simple supports for plants.
despoil the sturdiest branch of their needle and cut them into various length to expend as plant stakes . They ’re handy for supporting houseplants , vegetable seedlings , and young plants in the garden .
These small stakes are also useful for protectingtomatoesand otherseedlingsfrom dreaded cutworm damage in spring . Placing a low stick against the stem keeps the cutworm from wrapping itself around the stem and chewing on your plant life .
The “ pin trick ” is extremely effective for this eccentric of blighter control condition , and having a cache of wager on hired hand will ascertain you win that struggle every time .
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7. Use your old tree as firewood.
Your Christmas tree is great fuel for an outside flame pitfall . Use the branchlet and needles as kindling , and cut the automobile trunk into logs for burn .
If you want to burn your Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in an indoor fireplace or woodstove , make trusted it ’s properly seasoned first so it does n’t make a steamy , sooty mess in your chimney .
There ’s a common misconception that true pine should n’t be cauterise indoors because it create excessive creosote build - up , but true pine is perfectly satisfactory ( though not the most effective ) as firewood , as long as it ’s been seasoned . ( So carry through the Mrs. Henry Wood to utilise next winter . )
8. Make your own pot feet.
Pot foot , or pot riser pipeline , promote an out-of-door plant container to provide drainage , reduce blighter infestations , render air circulation around the pot , and curb ugly H2O stains on a porch , patio , or deck .
you’re able to buy flowerpot foot in a number of different materials , include terra cotta , limestone , or charge plate , oryou can make your own by sawing your Christmas Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree trunk into 1- to 2 - inch - stocky rounds to pose under your pots .
You only require three or four pot foot underneath each container , and since they ’re so easy to make ( not to mention free ) , you may keep a nice supplying on hand to swop out as they depart to degenerate .
9. Make wood slices for crafting projects.
There ’s no shortage of arts and craftiness that practice woods slice : coasters , trivets , place cards , ornaments , wall artwork , jewelry , and more . Aquick hunt on Pinterestturns up hundreds of DIY projects .
If you ’re feel wily , cut back all the bough off your tree diagram and slew the bole into rounds of various thickness ( depending on what you require to expend them for ) . This helps the wood dry out out more equally and quickly , so you do n’t stop up with sap all over your undertaking .
10. Make twig gnomes.
My girl brought this base from preschool one sidereal day and I was smitten ! Ca n’t you see a whole family of these branchlet gnome outdoors in a fag garden ?
I reckon it ’s such afun craftto do with minor in winter , since all you need is a plenty of twigs from your honest-to-god Christmas tree and some imaging on a showery twenty-four hour period ! you could even create a whole village for your twig gnome by build fagot houses , swing set , bench , and chairs out of sticks , stones , and other outside treasures .
This mail updated from an clause that originally appeared on December 28 , 2020 .
catch the Web Story onwhat to do with an previous Christmas tree .
