Not Just a Pretty Tree: 5 Ways to Re-Use Your Christmas Tree Post-Holiday
These days we are all trying to do our best for the planet.
A Christmas tree—whether fresh cut or artificial—is a beloved must for some, but even if you choose to go with a real tree (always better, in our book, than a fake tree that will end up in the landfill at the end of its life), there is an environmental impact.
To lessen that impact, make sure to participate in your town’s tree recycling program after the holidays if it has one. Admittedly, these are small gestures, but shifting your thinking on how single-use objects can be repurposed for more than the original use can have a ripple effect.
Photograph by Eric Ozawa, from Ask the Expert: Edwina von Gal, on How to Help the Birds.
A Yellow-throated Warbler perches on a pine bough.
1. Provide shelter for birds.
Give the winter birds a place to shelter from the cold and hide from predators in winter.
2. Deck the garden.
Return the tree to the earth, part one: Snip off the boughs and place them, upside down, over your beds. In the spring, the branches give space for tender plants to grow but keeps them sheltered from late frosts and heavy snows.
3. Improve the soil.
Photograph by Jo Zimny Photos via Flickr.
Return the tree to the earth, part two: Chip your tree and use it as a soil amendment on your beds.
4. Make fragrant sachets.
Photograph by Justine Hand from Remodelista in Maine.
Justine used fallen balsam branches to make these updates on a New England classic; see the full DIY in our new book Remodelista in Maine.