Hello! Oh, those wonderful, beautiful, stressful, hectic holidays! How quickly they have come; how quickly they have gone! And now many of you are quite anxious to get rid of those Christmas trees as soon as possible if not sooner! After all, some of those trees have been up since before Thanksgiving! I’m not naming names – you know who you are!

Keep in mind – there are a few of us who have only recently put up our trees, and since the needles are still on the trees and we are not sick and tired of looking at these trees, we’re not going to give them up just yet.

So this spot today is for those others who are so tired of their trees because they’ve been up for more than a month now. You just might consider some of these suggestions to prolong that Christmas tree’s usefulness as you relegate it outside.

Yes, you can continue to enjoy the beauty of that magnificent tree and share it with your fine-feathered friends outside. Simply take that tree outside and lean it up against another tree, or a fence, or a shed and near your patio, deck or porch. Then hang small bird feeders on it! Hang slices of old bread from the branches. Or if you have the time and the energy, you can use your Christmas cookie cutters to cut Christmas shapes out of the old bread and then hang these from the outside branches. Or you can fill pinecones with suet or peanut butter and then roll these in birdseed before you hang these from the tree branches. String peanuts, shell and all, on a thick string and use this as a bird garland. Or you can string garlands of cranberries, raisins, apple and orange slices, or popcorn.

And then you can sit back with a cup of hot chocolate, or herbal tea, or coffee, or whatever your favorite brew. Yes, sit back and watch all those grateful birds feasting on all those bird treats that are now decorating your old, recycled Christmas tree.

But if feeding the birds isn’t your particular cup of tea, perhaps you can trim off all of the branches from that tree. Then place those branches over all of your perennial beds. This will protect those perennials lurking beneath from all of the heavy, damaging snow loads still to come. (Keep in mind – we’ve only just officially begun winter!) And the branches also help to anchor the snows in place to prevent uneven winter temperatures.

After the branches are removed, you can also save that nice straight Christmas tree trunk for use in the spring out in your garden. That straight trunk will come in handy as a pole for trellising those pole beans, or as a stake for a tomato plant.

Of course, if you have a chipper or a shredder, you can render that once majestic tree into a humble, yet wonderful, pile of wood chip. Then you can use that wood chip as mulch around your acid-loving trees and shrubs. And as long as you’re still in the Christmas spirit, and as long as that chipper/shredder is still out, you can offer to shred your neighbors’ old discarded Christmas trees as well as your own. Just think of all that nice free mulch!

Lastly, never, never, NEVER ever, burn any Christmas tree branches in your fireplace or woodstove! Dry needles, resin, sap, burning flame – all of these make for a very dangerous combination. Besides, those resins can cause a creosote buildup and can cause a chimney fire!

Now, of course, if you’re still too busy enjoying the holidays and that still-decorated indoor Christmas tree, go for it! By all means – keep that tree well watered and enjoy the season for as long as you can!

Happy New Year!

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
D