Greener gardening - compost the Christmas tree

Out with the old, in with the New Year!  It’s time to take down the Christmas tree and dispose of it sustainably - and the best way to do that is to compost it.

If you’ve got space in your garden, simply cut the tree into sticks and stack it in a spare corner.  The pile will support insects and wildlife, eventually breaking down during the course of a couple of years, feeding the soil and nearby plants.

Don’t have the space or time to wait?  Shredding the tree will speed up the process significantly; if you’ve got your own wood chipper - or you’re prepared to spend some time cutting the tree into small pieces - the shredding will make a great mulch for shrubs and paths.  Many councils will do the hard work for you; check what services are available in your area for uplifting Christmas trees or dropping off at the local recycling centre where they can be chipped and composted as green waste.

If you want to get really creative with your Christmas tree, you could try making it the basis of a dead hedge.  These are open, natural-looking structures composed of prunings packed into place and held together with posts.  An old Christmas tree will make a great filler for a dead hedge, and is another way to encourage biodiversity in the garden.

You can also donate your old tree to a good cause: there are annual planting projects by the sea in places like Lancashire, Cornwall and Ayrshire, where old Christmas trees are used to stabilise sand dunes and reduce coastal erosion.  Alternatively, give it to a goat!  Christmas trees are an enriching and nutritious treat for goats, donkeys, llamas and alpacas; look around for a farm, sanctuary or zoo near you which requests or accepts donations of trees at the end of the festive season.