by Pat Merewether

Created on: December 16, 2008

There are a number of ways to recycle a Christmas tree. There are practical ways and fun ways, and many ideas in between. You can make it into a bird feeder, chop it up and cure it for campfire wood or have it chipped for garden mulch. Christmas trees also make a great perennial protector or even a practical joke!

BIRD FEEDER TREE:

Kids enjoy joining in on this project.

First make sure all ornaments and tinsel or anything that may hurt the birds is removed.

Pound a stake into the ground or, if the ground is too frozen lean it against another tree or shrub. Then decorate it with strings of popped popcorn and cranberries or grape. Birds love grapes!

You can also make frozen bird-seed treats to hang on your tree.

Recipe:

1 cup of rendered meat fat (ask your butcher for some trimmed fat)

1 cup of natural peanut butter

1.5 cups of wild birdseed (safflower, sunflower or millet are good choices).

Supplies;

Mini muffin tin

Raffia strips (available in craft shops).

Melt the fat, stir in the peanut butter and seeds.

Cut 12 pieces of raffia into eight-inch pieces

Fold the pieces in half and place the loop or folded end into each muffin section. These will be your 'hangers'

Ladle the melted fat/peanut butter/seed mixture into the muffin tin

Place the tin in the freezer and freeze over night or until frozen solid.

Take the muffin tin outside and remove the little frozen seed cakes and tie them to the Christmas tree branches.

Raffia is good because it's a natural product that will compost after the seed cakes are eaten.

Hang the cakes toward the top of the tree to prevent local pets and rodents from reaching them.

PERENNIAL PROTECTOR/COMPOST TREE:

Another way to recycle your Christmas tree is to cut off the branches and place them over your roses or perennials to protect them from the coldest winter months of January and February. The pine needles will shake off and break down into compost for your plants. In the spring shake the needles off and break up the branches to add to your compost pile.

PRACTICAL JOKE TREES

You will need a number of trees for this, so include your neighbors. A friend of ours had this prank played on him. He went to Florida for the month of January and when he returned he had a Christmas tree forest in his front yard! The neighbors 'decorated' his lawn with all of their Christmas trees! It was quite a surprise and he said it looked great because the snow had covered them and it looked like a whole new front yard. Luckily for him, one of the neighbors had a chipper and removed the trees and made them into mulch afterward.

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