As quick as a blink of an eye, the Christmas season has passed us by and we truly hope you all had a very wonderful and Merry Christmas. The upcoming week is usually filled with activities like removing decorations from Christmas and preparing for the New Year.
As you drive around, you will inevitably notice the growing number of used Christmas trees now becoming a permanent fixture at the end of households driveways, awaiting the special pick up from your municipal garbage disposal. Obviously, with the large demand, this process can take time and often we see trees lying around and rotting for a week or two.
As both bird enthusiasts and conservationists, we all know that these trees can usually be put to better use, if even just in the interim of a local pick up.
Christmas trees can be used a number of ways to serve your backyard birds over the winter months and other ways to benefit the environment, here’s a few:
Winter Shelter
By placing your old tree in your backyard, you are providing instant access to a new winter shelter for your backyard birds. Some folks opt to stand the trees up to obtain this goal, while others will use the tree to create a brush pile, creating a roosting area to shelter birds like sparrows and finches.
Redecorate the Tree
This can be a fun activity to involve family or kids in. By placing the tree in your backyard, you can then have some fun ‘decorating’ the tree with some treats for your backyard birds. Hang a new feeder, or perhaps some custom-design suet filled with your birds favorite seed.
Trees Are Biodegradable
From an environmental standpoint, the branches and needles from your Christmas tree make a great mulch for the garden. In fact, many municipalities end up using old trees for just that reason, placing them through shredders and using the mulch for flower beds in city parks.