How to Reuse Your Christmas Tree: 5 Ways to Use It in the Garden

Another holiday season has come to an end and many people will soon be taking down their decorations for another year, including Christmas trees. If you’re hesitant about simply throwing away your tree, you’ll be pleased to know that it’s possible to reuse your Christmas tree in your yard.

There are many ways to get more out of your Christmas tree ideas by thinking about how you can use pine, spruce and fir trees beyond the holiday festivities. Of course, this only applies to real Christmas trees, which, unlike artificial trees in storage, do not last as long. Whether through mulching or transplanting for reuse next year, repurposing your Christmas tree is an additional way to make eco-friendly choices for the festive season.

So start your eco-friendly gardening resolutions for the New Year by choosing to reuse your Christmas tree in your garden. Here are five ways to get you started.

5 ways to reuse your Christmas tree in your garden

You may be considering simply throwing away your Christmas tree, but there are actually many ways to reuse it in your garden. Not only is it festive waste that you can compost, but your Christmas tree can also help your plants and brighten up your garden landscape.

1. Create mulch for your Christmas tree

Mulch in the wheelbarrow

(Image credit: Eyecrave Productions via Getty Images)

This is perhaps the most obvious way to reuse your Christmas tree in the garden after Christmas: trim it and make organic mulch. Even if you don’t have much experience making compost, you can easily use your Christmas tree as mulch.

If you’re unfamiliar with mulching, it involves placing a layer of organic matter at the base of a plant to both provide nutrients and insulate the roots. This is a common method of protecting plants from frost.

“To use a Christmas tree as mulch, you need to shred the tree into wood chips,” he explains Rachel Bull, H&G‘s head of the gardens. “Pine needles are also a valuable material for mulch, helping to suppress weeds and retain moisture,” she adds.

There are different ways to cut up your Christmas tree. You can use a wood chipper available on Amazon or you can opt to use essential gardening tools like this hand saw from Amazon and these pruning shears from Amazon.

Rachel Bull

Rachel is a garden editor, flower grower and floral designer. Her journalistic career began on Country life Magazine that sparked a love of container gardening and wild planting. After more than a decade of writing for and editing a range of consumer, business and trade magazines, Rachel became editor of Floral Art Magazine The flower arranger. She then trained as a floral designer and stylist in London and worked there for six years before joining Houses and gardens Team.

2. Make a wood chip path with your Christmas tree

Wood chip path

(Image credit: Orchidpoet via Getty Images)

Similar to mulching, you can also chop up your Christmas tree for your garden path ideas. More specifically, you can create a wood chip path using the material from your Christmas tree.

“Wood chip paths are effortlessly beautiful,” says Rachel. “They are perfect for fairy garden ideas and for anyone who wants to give their garden a natural look,” she adds.

An additional benefit of placing Christmas tree chips along your paths is that it helps suppress and eliminate weeds.

Note that you may need to carefully clear your path as wind and footsteps will blow wood chips around. Still, this is an easy way to add interest and structure to your paths.

3. Make plant stakes out of Christmas tree branches

Plant plugs

(Image credit: Eurobanks via Getty Images)

If you grow a lot of stake plants in your garden and are always looking for new ways to support long stems, you may want to enlist the help of your Christmas tree.

“There are many plants that benefit from staking,” says Rachel. “This simply means a support, often a stick, to which you carefully tie the stem of the plant to hold it in place,” she explains.

While there are many commercial stakes on the market (like this plant stake from Amazon), Christmas tree branches can work just as well.

Using essential pruning tools or a saw, cut branches that are sturdy and long enough to support the plants you are growing. Stick the bottom few inches of the branch into the soil to keep it secure before securing your plant stems with plant ties (from Walmart).

Note that these branches in the ground will begin to decompose, albeit slowly. If your branch begins to fall over, you may need to cut off the bottom portion where it is decomposing and reinsert it into the soil.

4. Give your Christmas tree to the wildlife

Wildlife Logs

(Image credit: Iuliia Burmistrova via Getty Images)

For wildlife garden lovers, you can reuse your Christmas tree in your garden by making it a wildlife element. In particular, your tree can be cut down and used as a woodpile for a range of garden wildlife.

“Cut down your Christmas tree and put a pile of them in your garden. If you leave it undisturbed, you’ll see insects, hedgehogs and even frogs using it as shelter,” describes Rachel.

You can also use the material from your Christmas tree to build an insect hotel or a hedgehog house. There are many ways to get creative with your Christmas tree to support wildlife during the winter.

5. Replant your Christmas tree

Plant Christmas tree

(Image credit: Andrija Nikolic via Getty Images)

Of course, it is also possible to replant your Christmas tree as long as it has intact roots. Many mini Christmas trees, which often grow in pots, are suitable for this.

“If your Christmas tree hasn’t been cut down and is growing in a container garden, put it back outside for the rest of the year,” says Rachel.

Alternatively, you can remove your potted Christmas tree from its container and plant it in your garden. You may need to use a shovel like this one from Amazon to lift it. Be careful not to damage the root ball.

Your Christmas tree can then benefit from the essential plant nutrients in your garden soil and is likely to grow larger throughout the year. When the holidays come again, you can put it in pots again to bring into the house for your Christmas celebrations.

FAQs

What decorations can I make with my Christmas tree?

You can make a number of natural decorations using the material from your Christmas tree. Use the leaves for wreaths and garlands, for example, or use the pine needles to make scented sachets for your home. You can also use the wood to create wooden decorations that complement your home decor or give them as gifts to friends and family. There are also many sustainable Christmas decoration ideas that you can create with Christmas tree materials for the next holiday season.

Any of these ideas will allow you to enjoy your Christmas tree long after the official tree-cutting date.

While you’re taking down your Christmas decorations and refreshing your home for the new year, don’t forget to also check off home maintenance items that need to be done in January.

How to Reuse Your Christmas Tree: 5 Ways to Use It in the Garden

ByAmelia Journalton

5 ways to reuse your Christmas tree in your garden

By Amelia Journalton

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