9 Ways to Recycle Your Christmas Tree

After the holidays are over, the Christmas decoration is packed away and you’ve had your fair share of joy, it’s time to decide on how to dispose of your Christmas tree. While you may already be thinking of throwing it in the rubbish bin, there are some creative ways to recycle your Christmas tree and put it to good use.

So if you:

Then, read on!

Inevitably, when the New Year arrives, you need to dispose of your Christmas tree. Seeing discarded trees lining the streets after the holiday season can evoke a sense of sadness. However, there is no cause for concern as your tree has numerous possibilities for a second life.

For instance, you might be able to nurture it for the next 11 months and enjoy it again next year. If that isn’t feasible, there are various innovative methods to repurpose or recycle your Christmas tree.

Replant your Christmas tree

Replanting your Christmas tree in the garden or another suitable outdoor space can give it new life and contribute to the environment.

How to replant a Christmas tree with a live root system

If you’ve bought a real Christmas tree with a live root system and plan to replant it, keep in mind that it can’t stay indoors for very long. If it stays indoors for too long, it will have a harder time re-adapting to outside conditions.

1. Dig a hole well in advance before the frost settles in. Digging a hole later will not be impossible, but it will definitely be harder.
2. After the festive period is over, place your Christmas tree back outside in a cold and sheltered place. Keep it like that for about two weeks, so that it can re-enter its dormant state.
3. Remove the burlap from its root ball.
4. Place the tree in the hole and backfill it with soil.

Can you replant a Christmas tree without roots?

It’s impossible to replant a Christmas tree without roots. Trees rely on their root systems to absorb water and nutrients from the soil, and if the roots are completely removed or severely damaged, the tree cannot survive.

The poor plant has been slowly dehydrating ever since it was put up for sale at the start of the festivities so if you’re trying to replant a cut Christmas tree it’s unlikely to grow again, as these trees are typically cut from their roots and cannot regenerate.

Turn your Christmas tree into a bird feeder

If you love decorating Christmas trees, you’d be delighted to learn you can do it all over again, but this time with bits of food for the birds. So, if you’ve successfully managed to replant your Christmas tree and want to do something more, this is it:

Keep in mind that it might take a week or two for birds to discover your tree.

Make mulch from old Christmas tree

A good way to dispose of a Christmas tree is by turning it into mulch. Mulching is great for any garden as it prevents soil erosion after heavy rainfalls, and provides it with nutrients. Knowing that this new batch of mulch is from your old Christmas tree will make it that much more special.

You don’t necessarily need a shredder for the job, but it will come in handy. If you can’t borrow one from your neighbour and don’t want to rent one, you can just use an axe to chip the branches into tiny pieces. The smaller the better.

Another way of Christmas tree recycling is to make mulch from the needles. All you have to do is leave the tree on the patio until the needles drop. Once they have fallen, gather the needles and use them as mulch for acid-loving plants like blueberries. Explore more acid-loving plants using our Plant Finder.

Compost it

An effective method to recycle a Christmas tree is to use it as a basis for your composter.

Trim the tree branches so they can be easily inserted into the composter and stack them. Naturally, the smaller the pieces, the better. Afterwards, you can add your kitchen scraps.

Use it as potpourri

After the holidays, instead of worrying about how to dispose of your Christmas tree, you can use its fresh aroma in a creative way. Everyone enjoys the tree’s festive smell, so turning it into a potpourri is one of the best ways to recycle a Christmas tree and continue enjoying its pleasant scent.

1. Chop up your Christmas tree along with the trunk into tiny pieces.
2. Put the pieces into a bowl and fill it halfway with water. You can also add fruit or spices for extra fragrance.
3. Place the bowl in a warm place, like on top of a radiator. As the water starts to heat up, you will notice a pleasant scent filling the room.

Use as firewood

If you decide to get rid of your Christmas tree and go down this road, know that you should never throw the tree into your indoor fireplace. When on fire, pine needles emit harmful fumes, such as hydrogen cyanide, while the branches generate large amounts of heat. Not only will it become hazardous to your breathing system, but that heat may lead to a chimney fire if the chimney hasn’t been cleaned recently.

That’s why it is much easier to use it outdoors, in a fire pit. Just make sure the tree is completely dry before chopping it up into pieces and throwing them to be engulfed in flames.

Charity organisations

Finding the right way to dispose of a Christmas tree is important for reducing waste after the holiday season. Although there are many creative and sustainable options for Christmas tree recycling you may also try other methods that ensure a smooth and hassle-free experience.

It will take some online research to find one, but there are lots of charity organisations in London that, for a small fee, provide Christmas tree collection. After all of the trees are collected, they’re recycled. Recycling is by far the best option, as it helps nature and doesn’t require space in a landfill.

Local council

Numerous councils in London provide a complimentary kerbside collection of Christmas trees. You can leave it next to your rubbish bin and it will be picked up on collection day by the rubbish collectors. However, the specifics of this service differ between councils. For instance, some councils collect Christmas trees along with the regular household waste, while others only offer collection for those enrolled in the garden waste service.

Although this method of disposing of Christmas trees is the most convenient, certain boroughs do not provide this option.

Professional Christmas tree collection

Some of you may already know this, but Fantastic Services offers a tree collection service which goes along with Christmas tree delivery. You can buy a tree, have it delivered, and arrange a collection date. That way, everything’s taken care of, sparing you time and nerves.

Alternatively, you can arrange only Christmas tree disposal and the waste removal team will collect your tree regardless of its size.

Image Source: Shutterstock / kryzhov

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How to you dispose of your Christmas tree? Do you use it in any of the way mentioned in this post? Let us know by commenting!