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A Christmas tree adds greatly to the festive spirit of the holidays. However, after Christmas, the decorations come down and get put up, and the tree must be disposed of properly. Thankfully there are several ways this can be done.

Many places, particularly in the city, have a curbside Christmas tree pick up. Normally the service is offered for free, and is often run by organizations such as the Boy Scouts. This can be ideal for someone with a small home and no other means of disposing of a tree. It can also be handy for an elderly person.

However, not only can the tree have more uses than cluttering up a landfill, not all towns and communities offer the free pick up. This can be solved though, especially in rural areas.

After carefully removing the tinsel (you want to do this anyway, even if the tree is to be hauled away, since most tinsel isn't very biodegradable, so it isn't too good for the environment), start by trimming off the boughs close to the trunk.

Tree boughs can be added to a compost pile, and they can be placed around plants as natural mulch, allowing them to compost over the winter. This can be attractive if the branches are laid carefully around the plants. Fir and pine boughs tend to be acidic, so this can be a great boost for acid loving plants such as huckleberries, blueberries, and azaleas. In the springtime, these plants so mulched can burst forth in a tremendous profusion of leaves and flowers.

The blanket of boughs also protects the plant roots against the colder temperatures of winter, helps retain water, and helps keep the weeds away from the plants. Who would have thought that the disposal of a Christmas tree could be so beneficial?

Incidentally, some of the smaller branches with the needles attached can be chopped and boiled in water or in a potpourri pot to continue giving the home that good Christmas tree aroma, long after the season is over.

There is still more to the disposal, however, as you are still left with the trunk. This also has several potential uses. For example, sawed up and allowed to season, the trunk makes good fuel for those people who heat with wood. Granted, this won't produce a great deal of firewood, however it can be quite useful especially for senior citizens who can't afford to purchase a lot of wood for the winter.

If you don't know of anyone who heats with wood who could use the fuel, the top of the tree can also be sawed off, and then the trunk can be buried into the ground to a depth of 1-1 1/2 feet (about a half meter). Nailing an aluminum pie tin to the top of this tree-post makes a unique bird feeder, and in the summer by applying caulking around any holes so the tin will hold water, it is also a great birdbath.

Note that using it for this purpose, the wood will begin to decay naturally and will probably last no longer than 2-3 years. That isn't a problem, though, because you'll have another one next year. When the wood is in an advanced state of decomposing, it can be laid on the ground and buried to a depth of a few inches. The natural processes will continue while adding nutrients to the soil.

Properly disposing of a Christmas tree after Christmas is something most people face if they got a tree to begin with. The good news is that there are a number of ways to dispose of it, which don't include necessarily just throwing it away. If you went to the time, effort, and expense to get the tree, you may as well get as much use out of it as you can.

Learn more about this author, Rex Trulove.
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