Christmas is over. Here’s what to do with your tree other than take it to the dump

Some 10 million live Christmas trees end up in landfills every year

The best things to do with your Christmas Tree, now that festivities are coming to an end (Getty/iStock)

December is typically a month full of decisions, from festive shopping to social events.

Yet, as the holiday season draws to a close, one more crucial question arises: what will you do with your Christmas tree?

A staggering 10 million live Christmas trees end up in landfills each year, according to the Nature Conservancy.

There, covered with soil, they undergo anaerobic decomposition – an oxygen-deprived process, unlike the natural aerobic breakdown on a forest floor.

This anaerobic decay is not only very slow, potentially taking years to break down, but it also generates potent greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide.

Now that Christmas is over, what can you do with your tree? (PA Archive)

This disposal method also risks contaminating groundwater.

If you’d like to avoid this, you have options that not only will avoid harming the environment but may also help improve your garden, and all of them begin with removing ornaments, tinsel or “flocking” (spray-on fake “snow”) from the tree.

Firewood and mulch

At the end of every holiday season, my late husband, John, used to remove our Christmas trees’ branches — one by one — using garden pruners right in the living room. As he cut each branch, he would drop it into a large trash bag at his feet.

When the bag was full, I would take it outdoors and distribute the branches throughout the garden to insulate the soil and protect bulbs and perennial root crowns from heaving out of the ground during the freeze-thaw cycles of winter.

Meanwhile, John would get to work sawing the trunk into segments, then would bring them outdoors, where they would cure over winter. After six months of drying, we’d burn the dried wood in our fire pit. Ashes to ashes, as they say.

In spring, I would revisit my garden mulch and cut the brittle branches and stems into smaller pieces, leaving them in place to further decompose without interfering with the emerging springtime garden. Pine needles don’t significantly lower soil pH, despite what you might have heard, so they will not imperil your plants.

The practice not only provides free winter mulch and firewood, but also allows you to remove the tree from the house without leaving a trail of needles from the living room to the door. Win-win!

Wildlife havens

If you have a large pond, consider sinking your tree to create shelter for fish. They’ll appreciate their new hiding place.

Or leave the tree in its stand and set it out in the yard. Secure it, if necessary, to avoid tipping in strong winter winds. Then watch as nonmigratory birds make a home in it. A bird feeder hanging from a branch will help entice new residents even more.

If that’s not possible, just drag the whole thing outside and lay it down in an out-of-the-way corner of the yard to provide shelter for birds and other wildlife.

Make the most of local initiatives

Some communities hold special tree collections after the holidays and use them to fortify sand dunes, counter erosion or provide shelter for wildlife. Some municipalities chip collected trees and then supply the resulting mulch free of charge to homeowners.

To find programs in your town, county, or state, call your local offices or search online.

You might even donate your tree to a local farm; many will welcome your contribution to their livestock’s food supply.

___

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.