Ways to give your previously “live” Christmas tree new life

With great care, shortly after Thanksgiving, a fresh, fragrant pine tree was brought into your home. It was lovingly adorned with festive lights, garland, and ornaments. For many of us this stirred (hopefully) fond memories of Christmases past, family, and friends. This tree was the centerpiece for exchanging brightly wrapped packages in all sizes and shapes. Now it is time to safely stow away the ornaments, garland, lights and tinsel. This year, rather than putting your tree out with the trash, you can create more fond memories of your tree by giving it a new purpose, such as:

• A resting and nesting place for birds, rabbits and other small creatures. Just lay your old tree in a remote corner of your yard. You may not see activity there, but you can watch for tracks after the next snowfall.

• Mulch, if you have the equipment, or if your municipality collects them for that purpose.

• Contact your town hall or county Extension office to see if they need your tree for a project. Some communities will collect spent Christmas trees to make their own mulch.

• A birdseed buffet: Just decorate your Christmas tree for your feathered friends. It provides shelter from birds of prey. First, be sure to place it in a spot where you can enjoy the birds from inside your home. To secure it, either plant it temporarily or tie it to a fence or another tree. Decorate it with easy-to-make bird treats: just hang stale cookies, donuts, slices of bread, pretzels, apples or oranges by string or leftover Christmas ribbon. All of these can be coated in peanut butter and pressed in birdseed (just like pine cones when we were little). Click here for more ideas. Remember to refresh and replenish your decorative treats until the winter weather breaks.

• Also, your lovely Christmas wreaths and roping (minus the decorations) can be simply hung on a nail on a tree outside. It makes a nice perch for birds to dine on bird treats (like pincones in peanut butter and birdseed).

• Once ponds are safely frozen (definitely not yet around here), your tree can be dragged out onto the ice. When the ice melts, the tree will sink to the bottom and become a new habitat for the fish.