According to Christmas Law, the decorations should come down on 12th night – and that’s Friday 5th January. So it’s time to undeck the halls, tear down the tinsel and pack it all away in a box till next year.
It’s been fun while it lasted, but the long dark days of January have arrived and yuletide, winterval or whatever you call it is done and dusted for another year.
Attics await all the decorations which can be packed away – but what do you do with your real tree now it’s started shedding needles and served out it’s usefulness?
Here’s a handy guide to what can be done with a festive fir, whether it’s already been cut or planted in a pot and still growing.
1) Put it in the bin.
Yes, it’s been the centre point of the Christmas celebrations, and this seems a cruel way to repay that, but this is no time for sentimentality.
Council brown bins – assuming you have a permit for collection of garden waste, such as the scheme running in Glasgow – are big enough to hold a chopped-up tree if it’s cut into small enough pieces. Timber!
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2) Heave it to a collection point.
Don’t have a permit for garden waste removal? Councils across Scotland will set up collection points for trees to be dumped, if you can get it there.
Glasgow City Council runs several – at Pollok Country Park, Alexandra Park, Kelvingrove Park, and Mansfield Park, from either the 3rd or 5th January until the 31st.
3) Turn it into compost
Chop off the branches and saw up the trunk, and a tree can be dumped in a compost heap. Then sit back and watch the circle of life unfold as it rots into fertiliser to provides healthy soil for plants and vegetables to grow in the new year.
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4)- Replant your tree
Why get rid of a tree if it can be used again? Live trees will continue to grow throughout the year, and if your garden is big enough it can be replanted in the ground or a bigger pot to give its roots space to grow. Then you can welcome it back inside again next year (remember to spray it for bugs and greenfly, though)
5) Turn to mulch
Similar to the compost scenario, using a woodchipper will reduce e tree to handy mulch and woodchips for the garden.
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