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Use your live Christmas trees after the holidays

010420.N.JS.Zvirovskicolumn
A discarded Christmas tree is used in the garden to protect birds from the elements. John Zvirovski / The Sun

Once the holidays have passed and the excitement of friends and family has calmed back down to a lull, we begin to take down the wonderful displays we have created through the past month. It can be a depressing time of year as we have been so used to all the hustle and bustle of the season. Now the season is coming to an end and after the first of the year, we are reminded once again that we still have three more months of winter to go. I guess we can look at the bright side of things and feel content that we are not one of the homeless or less fortunate ones who have to spend most of their days out in the cold.

Of all the decorations that we pack away for the following year, many of us have live trees that we will throw to the curbside for pick-up by the city. Some cities have programs where they pick up the trees and bring them to a site where they are shredded and chipped for city landscape use. Some of the cities even allow their residents to come and pick up a truckload of these chips for their own landscape purposes. New York City alone shreds and chips nearly 1,500 tons of Christmas trees a year for the use of residents and the Parks Department. It is a nice program to have in place, but not all cities have a plan such as this. Of the cities that do not have a plan, the trees end up in the municipal landfill to take up much unnecessary space.

We, as homeowners, can use these trees ourselves for many purposes of our own. We can leave them in their stands and place them in the yard for wildlife. Many birds like to hide in them for protection against the winter’s harsh elements. In our area, it is nice protection from the extreme winds and can also create a feeding haven. Place your bird feeders or suet cages in or near these trees and see the wildlife flourish in your own backyard. It makes for a great pastime over coffee on those weekend mornings where you just do not feel like doing anything other than watch the birds.

If birding is not your thing, one can also cut off the branches and lay them over the tender plants in the garden, however this year we have more snow than usual. The branches are a great use for protection with those "early" spring risers that might get nipped by a late cold snap. Once spring arrives, you can discard the branches into a compost pile to breakdown for later use.

When using your tree for composting purposes, you cannot just throw the entire tree into the pile and expect it to break down. First, you have to remove the branches and break them into smaller pieces. These can go into the compost pile for gradual breakdown or they can be used as mulch pieces in walkways or other areas in the landscape. In time, this material will break down to fortify the soil with additional nutrients. Bigger limbs and tree trunks actually need to be shredded or chipped in order to decompose in a timely manner. If one does not have a chipper or find access to one, these pieces can also be cut and cured for firewood. The limbs and trunks should sit and cure for one year before burning them within a home fireplace. Remember that pine and spruce used as firewood have many resins in them that cause a great deal of popping and crackling when being burned. The utmost care in fire screens should be in place when burning within the home.

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Whatever you choose to do with your discarded tree is up to each individual homeowner. In this green age of recycling, do not forget that we can recycle all of nature’s products with very little effort. Not only is it inexpensive, it also gives back to the earth in so many ways. I am sure your neighbor will not mind if you grabbed their tree off the boulevard for recycling purposes. Just make sure that it is a discarded tree and not one growing in the yard, as some neighbors tend to frown on that a bit.

In the South, they use discarded Christmas trees in the deltas to collect sediments and to slow erosion. In the lakes country, they submerge them in ponds and along lake edges for fish habitats and bank stabilization. In other cities, they break them down into mulch for residential gardens and yards. There are many options at our disposal to make the best of what we grow. Christmas trees do not have to serve one purpose only, as there can be many uses long after the holiday season has come and gone.

My favorite choice is to use it as a feeding haven in my yard and then compost the branches later in the gardens. As for the tree trunks themselves, I choose to cut, cure and burn them in the backyard fire pit or use in the fireplace indoors.

I am one of those people who rises weekend mornings without a lot of motivation and opt to drink my coffee while watching the birds feeding in their protected enclaves. And as I sit back and view the haven I have created, I can't help but feel fortunate that I am not one of the many that have to spend their lives out in the harsh realities of winter. Eventually, I will motivate for the day, but for just this short moment it is nice not to be on any schedule and enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures.

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