Ever on the lookout for stuff I can reuse or recycle from holiday decorations, Christmas is second to none – better even than composting Halloween pumpkins.
Back when I used fresh-cut trees to decorate, I recycled them after the holidays. Each yielded beautiful evergreen needles perfect for garden mulch, plus a sack of kindling from cut-up branches and a small stack of fast-lighting firewood logs.
But occasionally I would keep the hat-rack of a trunk, with branches bobbed back to the diameter of my pinkie finger, tie it to a fence post, and festoon it with glass bottles that lasted easily two or three years.
Felder Rushing arranges fallen tree limbs in his garden, creating a naturalistic “stumpery” that provides habitat for wildlife and enriches the soil. Photo Courtesy of Felder Rushing
Not everyone’s cup of tea, of course. But the question remains: What do we do with natural Christmas trees, wreaths, and other discarded natural holiday greenery? It’s easy enough in most towns to set it on the curb for someone else to deal with. But at least consider the alternatives – even if it’s just tossing it behind some shrubbery as wildlife habitat.
I am all about composting everything possible. I loathe putting dozens of bags of perfectly recyclable grass clippings, tree leaves, or other debris out for pickup. My little garden, like pretty much every other yard, has a small, out-of-the-way area where I take responsibility for garden debris. Even the most environmentally cynical could do this, if for no other reason than virtue signaling.
Then there’s the fun practicality of it. A “dead hedge” is easy enough – just lay fallen limbs and branches end to end between or around trees, or along a shrub border or fence. Pile on leaves, and in no time you will have rich soil that can be dug and planted. I also enjoy my simple “stumpery” of logs and limbs placed in a shaded spot and planted with ferns and other woodland plants.
This isn’t a pipe dream; it has been done for centuries, long before landfills and urban mulch piles. Small-town and country gardeners had little choice other than the once-ubiquitous burn pile. They just found a place to pile stuff, whether or not it would eventually be used as compost.
In fact, across most of the world – including the village in northern England where I spend part of each year – there is no system, equipment, or place for handling yard waste except after extreme weather events. Even in the most celebrated botanic gardens, there are “snags” – dead trees that pose no real danger to life or property – deliberately left standing as naturalistic sculptures that double as crucial wildlife habitat, often supporting flowering vines.
More than just wooden eulogies to once-thriving trees, these snags provide an ever-changing succession of colorful mushrooms, lichens, mosses, and ferns that thrive on decaying wood. They are crucial refuges for disappearing urban wildlife, including native bees, which are better than honeybees for pollinating flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Plus, tree frogs, lizards, and beetles, grubs, earwigs, spiders, and other small critters feed on them.
Ideally, birds and mammals delight in the soft wood high off the ground, where they can peck grottoes for raising successive generations. Think woodpeckers, owls, chickadees, nuthatches, tufted titmice, and maybe even flying squirrels, bats, and other small mammals.
Not sure how I segued from recycling a used holiday tree or wreath into a “save our wildlife” tome, but you get the idea. Garden styles have evolved for centuries to suit local resources as well as personal and community aesthetics. How would it hurt if we collectively started neatly positioning garden debris as a win-win?
Felder Rushing is a Mississippi author, columnist, and host of the Gestalt Gardener on MPB Think Radio. Email gardening questions to [email protected].
Posted in Columns
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