What to Do With Your Christmas Tree After Christmas

Throwing your Christmas tree to the curb after the holiday this year? You might want to think again.

Once the parties are over and the presents are unwrapped, the Christmas tree's job is done. Or is it? Once you get it out of the house, that forlorn little evergreen can take on a whole new role.

When the holidays are over, take down the tinsel, but don't bag the tree. Its needles, boughs, and trunk can do more than hold ornaments.

• There are so many uses and ways to recycle your Christmas tree around your home and in your yard this winter that it'd be a shame to just let it go.
• If you would like to burn your recycled Christmas tree as firewood, it is probably not a good idea to do so right after you take it down and cut it up. The wood is still wet and can pose a fire hazard. It’s not good with an inside fireplace, but try it in an outdoor fire pit.
• Using your Christmas tree as winter mulch could be just the thing to recycle and reuse this signature holiday item.Simply by placing your old Christmas tree in the yard, you're providing birds and small mammals with good winter shelter. You can always chop your old tree up in the spring.
• Place your tree in its stand outdoors. Fill bird feeders and hang them from the boughs, or drape the tree with a swag of pinecones coated with peanut butter
• Even if you live on a small property, you can place your old Christmas tree at the edge of your yard. This makes a small wintertime wildlife habitat for rabbits, birds, and squirrels. Some may even build their nests in the pine boughs
• Cut a two foot section from the top of your Christmas tree and set it in your yard. Believe it or not, this makes a squirrel feeder. The perfect squirrel jungle gym!
• Evergreens make excellent winter mulch for tender plants. Just cut a few branches, or boughs, from the tree and place them over any delicate plants for the winter.
• Make a sachet with the tree's pine needles. It will add Christmas freshness to your home throughout the New Year! Hide them around the bathroom and the kitchen for some cheerful fragrance!