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11 Ways to Reuse or Recycle a Christmas Tree

Put Your Christmas Tree to Good Use!

Tim Goodwin
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To prolong the holiday spirit and also give back to wildlife, how about reusing or recycling that Christmas tree? Here are 11 great ways to give that tree back to nature!

Did you know: According to folklore, it was bad luck to leave the Christmas tree and greenery up past Twelfth Night (January 5)—the eve of Epiphany (January 6)? Traditionally, Twelfth Night marked the end of the 12 Days of Christmas. 

What do you do with it now that the Christmas season is over? Sure, you could just bring the tree out to the curb or chuck it into a brush pile, but what about trying something new this year?

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11 Ways to Reuse or Recycle a Christmas Tree

Here are some excellent ideas for recycling that tree:

  1. A Christmas tree makes for a lovely habitat for small birds, such as chickadees and finches, during the winter months, especially on cold nights and during storms. Evergreens provide important shelter. Prop it up near a bird feeder, another tree, or against a fence. Or, just lay it in your garden for animals of all sorts to enjoy.
     
  2. Trim the branches from the tree and saw the trunk into several pieces. Tie the pieces together and store the bundle in the cellar. These logs will make for an aromatic Yule log to use in your fireplace next Christmas Eve.
     
  3. Use the branches from your Christmas tree as mulch, giving perennials and shrubs extra root protection from winter weather. Just put the cut branches in the garden, and they’ll hold moisture in and help build the soil, as well as provide shelter for pollinators and wildlife.
     
  4. Redecorate your tree as an outdoor bird feeder. String it with popcorn and cranberry garland or other bird-friendly goodies. Add pine cones filled with peanut butter or homemade suet, too!
     
  5. Use boughs from your Christmas tree to shade broad-leaved evergreen shrubs from the harsh winter sun and to block out gnawing pests.
     
  6. Building a house or know someone who is? Nail the tree to the peak of the roof rafters to bring good luck.
     
  7. Sew scraps of fabric together and fill them with Christmas tree needles. These make fragrant balsam sachets that can freshen drawers and closets. See how to make (lavender) sachets here.
     
  8. Collect trees from several neighbors and line them up along your driveway or sidewalk as a windbreak. Anchor them to cement blocks and bury the blocks in the snow.
     
  9. Pile Christmas tree boughs around tree trunks to discourage neighborhood dogs from doing you-know-what.
     
  10. Use dried-out sprigs to ignite kindling in your woodstove or fireplace.
     
  11. Give the tree to a friend or neighbor who has a woodchipper. Wood chips can be used as mulch!

Of course, you can simply leave the trees in your backyard if you have the room! Over the winter and fall, the trees will decompose. Young Christmas trees, particularly spruce and balsam fir, have very low rot resistance and break down quickly, adding richness to the soil—just as nature intended!

Did you know that Twelfth Night was also the last day for the burning of the Yule log—an ancient tradition that predates the Christmas tree tradition? Learn more about Yule and the burning of the Yule log.

After Epiphany and the end of Christmas merrymaking, folks returned to the regular work life. Read about Distaff Day and Plough Monday.

Christmas
About The Author

Tim Goodwin

Tim Goodwin, the associate editor for The Old Farmer's Almanac, has been reading North America's oldest continuously published periodical since he was a young child, growing up just a short drive from the OFA office. Read More from Tim Goodwin
 

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Comments

Anthony (not verified)

1 year 11 months ago

I would disagree about #2 using it as a yule log as there could be a creosote build up especially if the fireplace is not used often. Also place it outside and over the winter and spring it will decompose. Obviously dear author has not done this. We have 2 to 3 year old trees that have not yet decomposed completely.

Jim (not verified)

1 year 11 months ago

We take our tree down before New Year's Day. I do a fir tree, or sometimes a young Cedar, taken from my property ...
After the tree has done its holiday duty I put the drying corpse into my pond as a Crappie bed...the Fir breaks down by the time the fish are ready to spawn & the debris makes a great shelter for the eggs & hatchlings...
The Cedar needs a year to decompose, creating a structured 'home' for both the Crappie & Bass ... Both of which live-feed. On the other's hatchlings but the tree provides the babies hideouts so that enough survive to grow my fish population...

Cathy Greenwell (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

Our local animal rehabilitation (wildlife) will take them if you drop them off (cleaned of decorations).

Chris (not verified)

3 years 11 months ago

There is a goat farm near my home that asks for donations of old Christmas trees every year. Apparently, the goats love to snack on the trees. The farmer says, “it’s like an ice cream cone for them.”

Robin Crane (not verified)

5 years 11 months ago

Are there any ideas to recycle an artificial Christmas tree???? Ours is dropping needles so we are going to replace it and I was wondering if anybody knows what we can do with the old one other than leaving it for garbage pick up.

Samantha (not verified)

5 years 12 months ago

My kids hated to see any Christmas tree discarded, so we put ours outside with bird treats such as pine cones rolled in peanut butter and bird seeds, slices of orange and apple strung on the branches, popcorn and cranberries as mentioned in the article and suet melted with bird seeds cooled and cut into shapes and placed in net onion bags and tied onto the branches. In spring when it was time for the garden to go in, we used the tree to grow pole beans and climbing peas. When the fall came, the tree was cut up and used in our fire pit on chilly evenings. Total recycling, and it honours the tree as well as being useful.

Sherri Street (not verified)

5 years 12 months ago

Drop your tree in a lake, tank, or pond to provide a hiding place for baby fish and small fish to grow.

Do make sure that you have permission from the land owner before doing this! We would also strongly recommend consulting your state’s wildlife or environmental management agency before introducing anything into the environment. 

Make sure that you remove any and all ornaments from the tree such as tinsel and frosting before placing the tree in a lake or pond.