What to do with your real Christmas tree after Christmas?

Published on 3 January 2023

Wondering what to do with your real Christmas tree after Christmas is a common question we are asked, and many people all around the world are unsure, so you are not alone. Thankfully, there are many ways to sustainably dispose of your tree, depending on where you live and what is available. How you deal with your Christmas tree after the festive season also depends on what type of tree you have used all Christmas. Here are our top tips for dealing with your tree after you’ve taken the decorations down.

Use your real Christmas tree in your garden

There are many ways to reuse your Christmas tree to help your garden thrive. Because the needles take a long time to decompose, they can be used as mulch for beds and borders. Particularly for acid-loving plants. Cutting larger stems or branches means laying them over your perennial plants to protect them from bad weather. Chipped wood is a great way to keep weeds down in the garden or on pathways, so this is another excellent way to use the tree.

Help biodiversity in the garden

Log piles are ideal for insects that need rest, homes and food. So chopping your tree into smaller pieces and piling them up in your garden will encourage biodiversity. You could even stand your tree outside for a while longer and use it to hang bird feeders on to help your feathered friends through the rest of the winter.

Use it as border edging

If you want to tidy up your border edges, making it easier to keep the lawn trimmed, you can cut your tree trunk into smaller round pieces and lay them sidewards along the lawn for a rustic edge that’s also good for wildlife.

Leave it out for local collection

Many local councils offer a tree collection service, meaning you can book a collection and leave the tree in an easy-to-access place for the local collection team to pick it up. Trees are then made into wood chips or mulch and used in local parks or organisations.

Take it to a recycling centre

Try your nearest recycling centre if you don’t have a garden to use your tree in or a local collection. Some will accept Christmas trees in the green waste bin but do check before you make the journey.

Return it to where you bought it from

Many garden centres also offer a return service, meaning you can drop it back off where you collected it from. Some Christmas tree farms will take your potted tree and replant it, and you can reserve it for the following year.