How To Reuse Your Old Christmas Tree For Your Garden

Once the holidays are over, don’t bag your Christmas tree just yet. Its needles, boughs, and trunk can be helpful for your garden.

How To Reuse Your Old Christmas Tree For Your Garden

It’s almost Christmas time and surely, everyone is busy decorating their homes with bright and colourful Christmas trees. But when the holidays are over, you can take down the tinsel, but don’t bag the tree just yet. Its needles, boughs, and trunk can do so much more than just hold ornaments, especially for your Christmas garden.

1. Mulch with needles

Pine needles are excellent for moisture because it dries quickly and decomposes slowly. They are also moulded free mulch for ground-covering crops like strawberries to rest on.

2. Create a bird sanctuary

You can place your old tree in a stand outdoors. Fill bird feeders and then hang them from the boughs of the tree. You can also drape the tree with some pinecones that you coated with peanut butter.

3. Insulate perennials

With Australian weather getting more drastic. Snow isn’t unthinkable. If it’s snowing, the boughs can act as the perfect protection for your perennial beds. Simply cut off the boughs and lay them over the beds to reduce frost heaving.

4. Edge your borders

The trunks of your Christmas tree are perfect to edge the flower beds and walkways in your garden. Cut them into 2-inch discs and set them into the soil.

5. Shelter fish

If you live near a pond or lake, the branches of your old tree can be tossed into the water and provide sheltering habitats for overwintering fish. Just make sure that your tree is chemical-free and get permission from your town officials if needed.

6. Set a stage for containers

Saw the trunk into different lengths and use it as flowerpot risers. You can check out high quality and durable chainsaws here.

7. Make coasters and trivets

Woods are great to use as coasters and trivets. Cut the trunk into thin slabs, sand them smooth and apply a thin coat of polyurethane to keep the sap off your tables and glassware.

8. Chip it

Rent a chipper, if it’s a little expensive, you can get a few of your neighbours to split the cost, they are surely trying to get rid of their trees too. Feed the tree through the chipper and spread the wood chips under shrubs when spring comes. This will suppress the weeds and add nutrients to the soil when they decompose.

9. Feed a fire pit

You can use the quick-to-ignite branches to start an outdoor fire pit. However, don’t use it as an indoor fireplace because the creosote build-up can be a hazard.

10. Stake Your Plants

The smaller branches and twigs can be used to support your indoor potted plants or stake leggy seedlings.