in Asides |

Recycle a Christmas Tree in the Garden

Don’t be intimidated by a real tree versus an artificial Christmas tree, you can keep it alive and plant it again. Your Christmas tree doesn’t have to become abandoned at the curb.

We don’t honour our Christmas trees very well once the season is over. As a kid, we only had one real tree in our house. My brother was allergic to the real trees so we had an artificial tree every year after that first real tree. I liked the artificial trees. The best thing about them was putting up the same tree every year, like an old friend. So, I never had to throw away a Christmas tree.

Later, when I had a place of my own, I bought my own artificial tree. I also bought a small pine tree at the local grocery store. It was a small tree. It came in a small pot with a few cheap sort of decorations and a star on top. A poor woman’s mobile Christmas tree. I liked it. I’d forgotten the experience of having a tree with a natural scent. It also needed watering but I was careful to keep it balanced between too much water or not enough. I kept that tree well all during the holidays. I even added some of my coffee grounds as extra compost. That worked well – kept it from drying out.

Once Christmas was over I undecorated the artificial tree and put it away in it’s box. Then I undecorated the real tree and kept it on my kitchen table, right in the middle as it had been all along. I kept the tree just at the point of being dry until Spring. Somehow plants always seem to know when Spring starts. It began to get new growth and I moved it to a window space for the extra light.

I knew I’d need to find a new and better home for my real tree, soon. Luckily, I have a few family members with houses and lots of yards/ gardens.

Real Christmas Tree Lovers

How to Care for your Holiday Tree During and After the Holiday Season

During the holiday season, keep your potted Christmas tree watered and in a cool place. Don’t over water. It is better for the tree to be a bit on the dry side rather than too wet. Avoid leaving Christmas tree lights on for long hours at a time. The lights will dry the tree out a little. But, the lights also take away rest time for the tree. A tree likes several hours of darkness, just as it would have if it were outside.

After the holidays, keep the tree outside for a couple of months. Give it some water and try to find a sheltered spot. Some people cover the whole tree with burlap as extra protection. However, this could be over protecting the tree as it does need to adapt to being outside and begin thriving in the area it’s going to be growing in. It would be smarter to cover the base of the tree, protecting the roots from the cold while they are still above ground level and exposed to the cold. You could go around the neighbourhood and take branches from discarded Christmas trees to use as mulch and cover for your own tree base. When you plant the tree keep the branches to line the hole and mulch the dirt you pile over the planted tree roots.

Planting Your Living Christmas Tree Outside

Once the ground outside has thawed enough you can plant the tree in the ground. Give it space to grow. Don’t plant a tree in a place where it will become a nuisance in years to come, plan ahead and expect your tree will grow to double it’s size in just a few years.

Dig a hole at least as deep as the pot the tree is already used to being in. Dig deeper and loosen the dirt which will be under the tree. If you have compost stick it in the bottom of the hole, think of it as tree food. Dig the hole wider than the tree roots as it could be pot bound (have roots which have grown a lot and want room to grow beyond the boundary of the pot they are in). It will be easier for your tree to grow in soil which has been moved (it will also help it compete with anything else which is already rooted in the area).

Before you unpot the tree, water it well. This will help you get it out of the pot without a lot of stress to yourself or the tree. It should slip out easily (unless it has become pot bound). Don’t be afraid of cutting or disturbing the tree roots. You need to tug and unwind the roots before you plant the tree. If you leave the roots in a close, twisted knot they won’t enjoy their new space and reach out to grow in it. Untangling the roots (at least a little) gives them a head start.

Plant your Living Tree

Not Every Real Tree Can be Saved

A cut Christmas tree can not grow in any garden. If you buy a Christmas tree which has been cut at the bottom of the trunk, with all the roots sliced off, all you can really do is keep it comfortable until it dies or goes out for recycling as compost. The least you can do is make sure it goes back to the soil from whence it came.

A cut tree can be put out in your garden to become compost or mulch. You need to take time and cut the tree up. If you toss it out whole or in bigger pieces it will take a very long time to compost, years even. The smaller you chop it up the faster it will become part of your garden soil. Of course, if you dig a hole and bury it all, the tree will compost faster too.

Pine tree mulch is especially great for any garden plants that need/ like acidic soil. Think about the flowers/ plants you see growing in an area with pine trees local to you. Those are the plants which will be fine with added mulch from your Christmas tree.

A bare root tree could struggle and manage to survive, but it depends on how much root was left on the tree when it was uprooted (dug up).

If you want a large tree – be prepared to be a tree killer. The large trees available for Christmas are always cut trees because the tree sellers want a tree they can package up easily, transport and sell to the consumer.

If you want a potted tree, which can be replanted – be prepared to have smaller tree. Likely your potted tree will not be huge but it will be at least a little heavy with the pot and the potted root systems which have been saved along with the tree.

About Recycling the Cut Christmas Tree

Abandoned Christmas Trees