Oh Christmas Tree …what to do with yours now the festivities are over
Now that the big day has passed and we are into the New Year – Happy 2023 – here are a few things that you can do when you’re finished with your tree.
NB: Please only use these to tips for real Christmas trees
Roots? Replant it
Many of the trees you buy over Christmas are incredibly resilient, although unfortunately not those that have had their roots chopped off. If you had a potted Christmas tree with roots, this could be re-potted in either a larger pot or planted in your garden.
You could hang food for birds in the tree, giving it a use in the garden even if the roots fail to take.
Have it collected for a donation
Local charities, including Wirral St John's Hospice, collect and recycle your Christmas tree and offer a door-to-door collection service to help raise vital funds. Collecting trees from CH41, CH42, CH43, CH44, CH45, CH46, CH47, CH48, CH49, CH60, CH61, CH62, CH63 and CH64, the charity covers a lot of the borough. The service will be operational from Friday 13 January 2023.
The suggested donation, per tree, starts from approximately £9 for a 5 or 6 ft tree and £25 for a tree over 8 ft.
A donation of £10 could pay for food for a patient for the day or £30 could pay for a two-hour hospice at home support visit.
You can book your Christmas tree collection slot by visiting the Wirral St John's hospice website or calling 0151 343 0778. Registration closes Sunday 8 January 2023 at 11.59pm.
If you have a van and/or chipper and would like to volunteer to help with collecting the trees, please contact 0151 343 0778 (Mon to Fri 9am-5pm) or email treecollection@wirralhospice.org
Reuse it
Rather than reducing your tree to mulch or compost, green fingered gardeners could strip it to use as a frame for flowers or beans to grow up.
The unwanted pine needles can be added to compost or sprinkled on a muddy path to provide grip.
Dispose of it
You can compost your tree, put it in your garden waste bin if you have one or turn it into mulch.
To compost, cut the tree into sticks and stack neatly on your compost heap (ideally in a shaded part of the garden). Real trees are biodegradable and the soft wood rots away disappearing into the soil within a year or two if nature is left to take its course.
To put it in your garden waste bin, cut the tree up into smaller sections and pop it into your brown garden waste bin before your next collection. You can find when your next collection will be by visiting the council’s website and searching your address. If you don’t subscribe to the garden waste collection service, there’s currently a half price subscription offer available - £25 for fortnightly collections until the end of May – sign up by visiting the council’s website.
To turn it into mulch, you’ll need to use a shredder and cut the branches from the trunk of the tree before putting them into the shredder one by one. You may find the trunk is too thick to put in the shredder.
