Once the decorations have come down and the Christmas Tree looks sad and bare, what do you normally do with it? Rather than leave it our for the dustmen or throw it on a bonfire, here are some more sustainable things to do with your Christmas Tree.
This blog was suggested by Frogheath Office Manager, Katie.

From Christmas Tree To Mulch

The needles themselves will be easy to use as mulch. Simple place them in piles around the bases of your plants and trees in the garden. However, if you wanted to a step further, with a shredder or chipper you could break down the branches for mulch as well. Mulching protects your plants roots during the winter and helps stops soil erosion from rainfall – we all know how wet and cold for weeks after Christmas it can be, so give your plants a little helping hand until the spring!

Composting Your Christmas Tree

In addition to mulching, you could use the needles in your composter to decompose and add to your soil. Composting your Christmas Tree will add nutrients to your soil once the materials have broken down.

Christmas Tree Habitats

Use the bigger branches and / or trunk of the Christmas Tree to make habitats for wildlife. You could make a bug house or a cosy home for a hedgehog. Hanging small twigs or leaving needles out could be enticing for the birds to add to their nest. Alternatively, you could create a bird house or feeder using the larger Christmas Tree branches.

Create Rustic Home Décor With Your Christmas Tree

Why not make a winter centre piece from parts of your Christmas Tree? You could add pheasant feathers and pine cones and centre the pieces around a vase containing a candle for an arrangement which catches your dinner guests eyes.

If your Christmas Tree has pine cones, you could organize crafting activities with your little ones and make pine cone animals! More pine cone crafting ideas can be found here.

Repot and Reuse Your Christmas Tree

If you bought a potted tree, you can repot or replant it outside. There is no reason why your potted tree won’t come back year after year (until it gets too big, then it can retire to your garden) for you to continue to use and enjoy. A potted Christmas Tree is roughly the same price as a cut tree, so you could consider investing in one next year – think of the money you would save as well as the satisfaction of bringing in your own tree which you have looked after throughout the year.

Frogheath POV: Harriet from Frogheath was gifted some Christmas Tree saplings from Blackbrooks Garden Centre “3 or 4 years ago” She says: “We potted them and they lived indoors initially, then we kept them potted but moved them outside. They are now big enough to come in at Christmas and wear small decorations. They go in the kids rooms who love decorating their own little tree. We ought to measure them every year and record their growth!”

We hope this has given you a few inspiring ideas to get a bit more use out of your Christmas Tree this season and wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy new Year.  If you enjoyed this blog, why not sign up to our newsletter to get notifications of them straight to your inbox?