By BJ Jarvis
Pasco Extension Director and Horticulturist
Many keep a live tree up and decorated through the 12 days of Christmas, while others take it down immediately after Santa departs. Whenever your tree comes down, there is still useful life outdoors for those evergreen boughs.
Winter temperatures are expected to be a bit colder than normal this winter. A used December tree provides natural weather protection for tender landscape plants.
Cut the boughs and stack undecorated limbs around tender perennials or new plants to add a blanket of protection. Far better than plastic (the worst) or blankets, even needleless branches reduce cold air movement on winter mornings, while buffering tender plants from winter’s drying wind.
Those with temperature-proof gardens can employ evergreen boughs to create a temporary home for wildlife. This season’s discarded tree provides a haven for migratory songbirds, rabbits, chipmunk, turtles and other watchable wildlife. Whether kept as a tree or cut into stacked boughs, the tree can provide shelter from predators for critters and protection during severe weather.
The neighborhood teen fisherman suggests tying a block to the tree, then sinking it in their favorite fishing hole to create cover and protection for the fish, just as it does for birds and mammals above the water line.
Gardeners are resourceful. Those making a resolution to start composting in 2013 can cut the limbs to create a floor for that new compost pit. Bare branches can become stakes for spring tomatoes or other plants that need a bit of support.
As we start the New Year, repurpose this year’s Christmas tree to protect landscape plants or to invite wildlife to take refuge in your backyard. At a minimum, if you can’t find use for your Christmas tree in the garden, recycle it at one of the county’s many convenient recycling stations so that it can be mulched to help prevent next year’s weeds.
BJ Jarvis is Director and Horticulturist for Pasco Cooperative Extension, a partnership between the University of Florida, USDA and county government. Gardening questions can be answered at or by phone at (352) 518-0156.
