Now what? The decorations will soon be packed away for another year – what do you do with the tree besides the obvious: drag it to the curb.
Here are a few bloggers with ideas you might be interested in:
Matthew Chappell, a horticulturist with the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, doesn’t take his used Christmas tree to the road to become trash. That tree still has a lot of use left in it.
Chappell’s Top 10 Things to Do with a Christmas Tree after Christmas
No. 1 – Make a bottle tree. Cut all the branches about a foot from the trunk and put wine bottles on them. “My friend in Charleston, S.C., started that trend in his yard at Folly Beach. It’s definitely better with different colored bottles.”
No. 2 – Make a fish habitat. Drop three or four trees together in a pond or lake. Small fish will use the trees to hide from larger fish.
No. 3 – Make a bird pole. “My parents have used trees as bird house poles.” They can also be used to hold bird feeders, but make sure to cut the branches to the trunk or the birdseed will become a squirrel feast.
Click here for the complete list.
BabiesOnLine offers more:
The main uses for recycled Christmas trees are
for chippings, for cycle paths and similar places
to prevent beachfront erosion
to stabilize lake and river banks
for fish and animal habitats
to manage river sedimentation
for making a flu vaccination by removing the shikimic acid from the needles
for compost
for fuel
Bottom line – recycle your tree this year. Earth911.org has an online search for tree recycling centers in your area.
Happy Holidays from Great Big Plants.
26 Dec 2007 GBP
