10 Ways You Can Repurpose a Christmas Tree After Christmas
Knowing where and what you’ll do with your Christmas tree during the holiday season is a piece of cake. But what should you do once the season has passed? While it’s common to either recycle or throw out your tree once the holiday season has concluded, you might be surprised by all the ways you can repurpose it.
If you’re interested in learning more or have already decided to repurpose your Christmas tree, we’ve got you covered. Below are the top 10 ways you can repurpose Christmas trees in Ireland and why you should keep your Christmas tree alive instead of tossing it in the trash.
- Chip it
What better way to prepare for the spring season than by utilizing what’s leftover from winter. During the spring, it’s very common for weeds to start springing up everywhere (pun intended). Unfortunately, this can be unsightly and difficult to maintain. One way to combat this is by chipping your leftover Christmas tree and using the wood chips to discourage weed growth in your garden. This is because, unlike plastic which isn’t always effective for smothering weeds, wood chips keep your garden soil healthy. After all, it allows air and water to circulate through.
Remember, you should always lay down a bed of wood chips that are about 6” deep to help prevent weed growth.
- Use it as Firewood
The best part of using your Christmas tree for firewood is that you can pretty much use everything. You can chop the tree trunk into logs to help build the fire, and you can use the branches and needles as kindling to keep it burning. Plus, who doesn’t love a good bonfire?
- Create an Animal Habitat
If you’re up for it, old Christmas trees make excellent wildlife habits for birds, snakes, squirrels, and other furry friends who may otherwise not have shelter during the winter months. The wood from the tree also offers food for a variety of bugs and insects.
Now, snakes, bugs, and squirrels may not sound like something you want to make a habitat for but the more access they have to outdoor shelters, the less chance there is that they will cozy up in your home or garage to get warm.
To make a wildlife habit, all you need to do is bring your Christmas tree outside and lay it on its side and let nature take care of the rest.
- Make a Bird Habitat
Wait, isn’t this what we just covered? Sort of, but in a completely different way. While you can help protect birds by laying the tree on its side so they can bury between the branches, you can make a bird habitat to help feed them. To do this, all you’d need to do is bring your Christmas tree outside while it’s still in the stand. Remove all the decorations and replace them with bird feeders or pinecones smothered in peanut butter. This will attract the birds and give them a sufficient place to eat during the winter season.
- Stake Your Other Plants
While many of the things you can do with your old Christmas tree involve the outdoors, you can also tear off and use the branches to help stake your indoor plants. Staking allows your plants to grow without bending, which can cause them to break and ultimately stop growing. While you can purchase stakes online, cutting the branches off your tree and using them instead is a cost-effective alternative. Just remember to remove the needles from the branch first.
- Use Them for Crafts
A quick Google search and you’ll find out how many cool and unique things you can make from an old Christmas tree. Some of our favorites include:
- Wooden/wood slice ornaments
- Wood slice portraits
- Wooden door hangers and wreaths
- Wooden clocks
- Wooden canvas for painting
- Serving trays
- Wooden coasters
The best way to cut your old Christmas tree for crafts is by slicing the trunk into thick rounds. Not only is this the best shape for the various projects mentioned above, but it will help the wood dry out a lot faster, which means you can use it sooner.
These DIY crafts are also a great way to help keep your children entertained before they return to school. They also provide an activity the whole family can enjoy.
- Compost it
Composting has a lot of eco-friendly benefits. It not only recycles waste but conserves water and prevents soil erosion. Fortunately, your Christmas tree can be used in a compost pile. Doing this is a multistep process. First, you should cut your tree into three parts and wait until the branches become brittle. These will be used as a source of carbon dioxide. The items in your compost bin — eggshells, vegetable scraps, etc — need to be supplemented with brown material, such as wood to help them break down. During the winter season, this is hard to come by, which is why old Christmas trees make the perfect addition to your compost pile. Adding these brown materials can prevent your compost pile from smelling, but help the items in it break down more efficiently.
- Turn it Into Potpourri
If you love the smell of Christmas, then why not turn it into potpourri so you can have it all year long? All you’ll need to do is remove the pine needles from the branches and crush them up and put them in a bag. You can also add essential oils, cinnamon sticks, and cranberries to this mixture. Once you have your ingredients in the bag, steep them for about a month until the scent becomes infused with the dry ingredients.
- Use the Trunks as Flower Beds
Another neat thing you can do is cut the tree trunk into different lengths and use them as a display in your garden. You can turn these logs into flower boxes, pots, and other types of themed decor at half the price of what you’d pay in the store.
- Turn the Needles Into Tea
Perhaps one of the most interesting things you can do with an old Christmas tree is turn the pine needles into tea. All you’d have to do is remove the pine needles from the branches, chop them up and add them to boiling water. Once you’re done, you have a bag of tea leaves you can steep into your tea. This tea has notes of pine and citrus and tastes great with a splash of milk or lemon. Ensure you don’t have any allergies and research the type of tree first to make sure its safe.
Final Thoughts
There are so many fun and unique ways you can repurpose old Christmas trees once the holiday season has passed. When you’re ready to buy, Cork Christmas Trees can help. We sell a variety of real Christmas trees, including but not limited to the LodgePole Pine and Noble Fir. Contact us today to purchase your tree.
