The gardening corner. The gardener.

Christmas Trees Can Keep On Giving

December 28, 1997|By Mary Louise Boldan. Special to the Tribune.

This year, 33 million fresh Christmas trees will grace American households, providing beauty, warmth and yuletide cheer. Although there are those who may question the validity of cutting down fir trees, 90 percent of the Christmas trees are grown on tree farms, according to the Natural Christmas Tree Association. The seedlings begin life in a nursery and are then replanted in Christmas tree farms (which cover about 1 million acres nationwide).

These farms provide many environmental benefits that include acting as a soil stabilizer, creating wildlife habitats, and providing an aesthetically pleasing improvement to the land--Christmas trees frequently are planted on barren slopes or under power lines where no other crops will grow.

What's more, each acre provides the oxygen requirements of 18 people.

But the benefits of these trees needn't end with them being dragged to the curb for trash pickup after the holidays are over.

Shredding the tree into mulch is the most common recycling method, but there are various other practical post-holiday uses for the tree. In fact, turning Christmas trees into mulch may not be the most environmentally friendly technique.

Evergreens can be recycled and put to use in a number of other ways, including:

- Cut off the boughs of Christmas trees and lay them over perennial beds, roses and strawberry plants to protect the plants during the harsh winter months. According to Mort Ohren, past president of the Gardeners of the North Shore, "The timing is good (because) the soil is not quite frozen. Sometime during the first week of January, when the ground usually becomes frozen, place the boughs on the perennial beds. The boughs provide the protection most plants need, which is not warmth but steady temperatures during the freezes and thaws of spring."

By spring, the needles will begin to shed and break down into a slug-repelling mulch (slugs detest crawling over sticky needles).

- Cut off all the branches and use the trunk to edge the garden or pathway, just as railway ties would be used. Jack Pizzo, owner of Pizzo & Associates Ltd., a landscape and architectural firm in Cicero, specializes in designing havens for wildlife.

"I place the tree trunks strategically in my woodland garden," he says. "As the trunk begins rotting, it eventually attracts insects, which in turn, attracts a myriad of birds and small mammals."

- Once the needles have dropped off the branches, use the tree skeleton as a trellis for morning glories, Virginia creeper, or English or Boston ivy. Pizzo adds, however, that the trellis may be short-lived because the trunk is prone to rotting after several years.

- Old trees can become a shelter for birds and little critters during the cold winter months, while providing an excellent source for wildlife observation. Lay the tree on its side and stake it down so that it doesn't blow into neighboring yards.

Author and lecturer Pat Armstrong, owner of Prairie Sun Consultants, a firm in Naperville that specializes in natural landscaping as well as prairie and woodland restoration, suggests an alternative: "Collect two or three old Christmas trees and create a windbreaker, as well as a natural bird shelter, by placing the trees (upright) in a (horseshoe) shape facing toward the south."

This type of shape acts like a solar system--the heat of the sun is intensified as it reflects into the horseshoe shape and helps add warmth to the shelter. Positioning the trees towards the south will help protect against the winter winds of the north and west.

- Armstrong also suggests creating a feeding station for birds. Place the tree in a bucket filled with sand and secure it against a post or deck. If there is plenty of snow, simply stick it in the snow.

Create gourmet fare for the birds by spreading pine cones with peanut butter and then rolling the cones in birdseed. Hang these on the tree, using strong sewing thread, which birds cannot bite through.

Or string the following nibbles with sewing thread and hang from the tree: whole sunflower heads, peanuts in the shell, large bread crumbs, raisins, 2-inch chunks of suet, and pitted dates (a high sugar food for mockingbirds). If you have holly berries left over from Christmas decorations, place these in the tree.

- Have the tree chipped at a garden center and use the chips for mulch or a pathway in the garden. Armstrong suggests using the mulch for acid-loving plants.

"The soil in the Midwest is severely lacking acid," Armstrong says. "The Christmas tree mulch provides the much-needed acid for plants, such as rhododendrons and azaleas."

- Woodworkers can make a number of items from the tree's trunk, including candlesticks, paperweights, birdhouses and reindeer.

- In her book, "The Forgotten Art of Creating an Old-fashioned Family Christmas" (Yankee Inc., out of print), Barbara Radcliffe Rogers suggests using the aromatic balsam needles to create potpourri and sachets. Once the needles become dry, strip the balsam branches of their needles and store the needles in a brown bag where they will retain their scent indefinitely.

- Although burning the dry branches and trunk in a fireplace may create a roaring fire, it is not recommended because of the pine tar that is distributed in the chimney, as well as the sparks that the branches set off. To use as firewood, cut the tree into logs and let them stand for a year.