Repurposing those gently used Christmas trees

More about recycling – this time on how to repurpose your gently used Christmas tree, courtesy of Linn County Master Gardener, Claire Smith:

 Seven to ten years and lots of tender loving care produced the beautiful, ideally shaped, majestic, emerald colored pine or fir tree that graced your living room this year.  So, now that the holidays are over, how will you recycle your live tree?

 Several options other than the landfill are available:

• Set the tree in the stand in the backyard or cut branches in two-three foot lengths to create an igloo shape.  Spread feed under the canopy and around the area.  Squirrels and rabbits will appreciate a good meal and you'll enjoy their antics after their tummies are full.
• Christmas tree boughs make excellent protection for perennials.  Cut the branches limb from limb and gently place them over your flower beds.  The boughs retain snow cover to shelter the plants and you'll have the pleasure of the aroma of pine for several days.
• Take the tree to a friend or relative with a farm pond who will utilize it as fish habitat.
• The Indian Creek Nature Center welcomes whole trees at the Sac and Fox Trail Head on Bertram Rd. where hundreds of trees are mulched every year and spread on the walking trails. (Always remove tinsel, angel hair or any other decorations and dispose of them properly first. Flocked trees are unacceptable for recycling.)  

The Christmas tree tradition dates back to the 16

Think green.  Think about repurposing your gently used Christmas tree.

^th

century in Strasbourg, Germany. The first retail offering of a Christmas tree in what has become a thriving U.S. industry was in New York City in 1851. Each year in the United States, more than 22 million Christmas trees are harvested.  Obviously, Christmas tree farming in the United States is quite a business. For every real Christmas tree harvested, growers plant three seedlings in its place. More than 15,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S. employ more than 100,000 people full and part time.  Besides stabilizing soil and protecting water ways, the trees provide a refuge for wildlife and create scenic green belts.  Real Christmas trees absorb carbon dioxide and other gases and emit fresh oxygen.  The approximately 1 million acres of Christmas trees in the U.S. account for oxygen for 18 million people daily.