By Debra Heleba, Extension community horticulture program director, University of Vermont
If your holiday includes a live, cut Christmas tree, you may be wondering what to do with it after the festivities are over. Many towns, civic clubs, and solid waste districts across Vermont now have disposal programs in place. Most offer curbside pick-up of spent trees so long as all decorations, including tinsel, have been removed. This is a convenient way for you to recycle your tree.
Several options exist if you are not yet ready to give up your tree or are looking for other ways to use it.
Create a respite for birds. Move your tree outdoors and decorate with edible “ornaments” that birds and other wildlife can enjoy. You can hang suet in the tree, out of reach of dogs, and make homemade “decorations” of peanut butter-covered pinecones. An outdoor tree feeder can be enjoyable for birds and birdwatchers alike.
Remove branches and use them to cover tender perennials. Branches can help protect your overwintering plants from snow and ice, providing them with some cover and helping to maintain consistent winter temperatures.
Rent a wood-chipper on your own or with neighbors. Chipped mulch is a valuable carbon source for your compost pile. Remember that composting works best when you use about a 3-to-1 ratio recipe with three parts “browns” (carbon sources like chipped mulch) to one part “greens” (like food scraps). Balancing your compost pile with enough carbon will also help keep down odors that may attract unwanted wildlife.
Use as fill for new raised beds. Referred to as Hügelkultur, this method has been used in Europe for centuries and is an old-fashioned take on the popular lasagna-style gardening practice. Here, logs form the base of the bed, and then branches, twigs, and leaves are layered on top. These are topped with compost and/or garden soils. The logs and other debris decompose over time, replicating a forest ecosystem and providing rich garden soils for your bed. Using this method, it can take a full year before the bed is ready to plant, but it is an affordable and ecological option to consider.
Speaking of the environment, if you have the space and interest, simply letting your tree decompose naturally can provide habitats for all types of creatures—from mammals like rabbits to bees and other beneficial insects—while returning the tree’s nutrients to the soil.
Whichever option you choose, your Christmas tree can be a gift that keeps on giving back to nature and your gardens long after the holidays are over.
