Recycle Cut Christmas Trees

Some of the cut Christmas trees left at Rolla Recycling Center to become mulch.

Recycle Cut Christmas Trees

Some friends are finally taking down their fresh cut Christmas trees and tossing them into garbage piles. That's a shame because these trees can easily be recycled and keep contributing in a variety of ways through the rest of winter.

The following are seven ways cut Christmas trees can be used now that all ornaments, lights, tinsel and cats have been removed:

1. Cut branches off and pile them into a small teepee shape at the corner of your property for wildlife refugees. I keep several piles around my one-acre hillside and keep them "refreshed" with twigs and other cover through the seasons so wildlife have a protected hiding space. In spring, it's fun to see what comes out of those refuges. Last spring, I saw a number of rabbits making the wildlife piles home.

2. Cut Christmas trees also make good bird cover under bird feeders. If you don't like having a whole tree at a bird feeder, cut off branches and use the branches to provide a green safe space at the foot of a bird feeder. 

3. Better yet, use the cut Christmas tree as a bird feeder. Place the tree up against a post or tie it to another tree and add orange slices, strung popcorn, old cranberries and even a bird feeder to give birds a safe place to eat. One of the most beautiful garden sights in snow is to see red cardinal birds in the evergreen branches of a cut Christmas tree!

4. Striped Christmas tree trunks can be set aside to weather and then used as fence posts and bird feeder poles.

Chipped trees and donated branches become a gardener's dream, a pile of potential mulch!

5. Donate your cut Christmas tree to your local recycling center. The Rolla Recycling Center collects trees and chips them up into huge mulch piles that sit through the rest of winter waiting for spring. When weather warms up, residents can stop by on Wednesdays to have the loader fill their pick-ups and trailers with the chipped wood for garden mulch.

The mulch is also available the rest of the week but you have to shovel your own so Wednesdays become a popular day to visit the recycling center.

6. Tie a weight on the cut Christmas tree and sink it in your ponds for fish cover. Evergreen trees make good cover for baby fish as well as providing safe hiding spaces for larger fish trying to get away from predators.

7. Two years ago, a local garden center was giving away their cut Christmas trees so I picked several up and used them for a wind break around my honeybee hives.

Cut Christmas trees also make good wind breaks around honeybee hives facing the south.

In the photo I have the trees pulled away from hive entrances so the honeybees can easily take their winter cleansing flights. As soon as the temperatures dropped to make them cluster back inside the hives, I moved the cut Christmas trees back in front of the hives for a wind break.

Here's a closer look of one of my hives with bees taking cleansing flights.

It takes a while for evergreen trees to dry out, even if they aren't placed in water so you have about half a year of good use before the branches become brittle.

Charlotte

Rose Pruning

Inspiration to learn how to prune roses, it is relatively simple once you follow a few steps.

Rose Pruning

Ok, it’s that time! If you are one of those people who have wondered through the year when you should be pruning your roses, the time is now. I look for green stems by St. Patrick’s Day, a good way to remember what time of year roses should be pruned.

To prune roses, start with sharp trimmers cleaned with alcohol so you are not spreading last year’s diseases. I use old socks soaked in rubbing alcohol to wipe down my trimmers. I also make sure the trimmers have been sharpened so the cuts are clean; using dull trimmers will cause stem tissue damage to the plant and invite diseases as well as slow down growth.

Now pruning anything can be nerve-racking. The good thing to remember is that most plants, including roses, are forgiving so take a deep breath.

The second tip is to take your time.  When I first started pruning, I tied pieces of yarn and old bread ties where I was thinking of cutting. I would adjust the cutting plan before actually making the cut. If I made a cut and didn't like it, I would remind myself of tip number one.

After trying several different approaches, here is how I start. I first remove any and all dead stems, that usually gives a better view of what's left behind and what you should trim next. Go slowly; some branches that are dead may only be dormant. If in doubt, first scrape the branch gently with your fingernail to expose what's underneath. If it's green, that branch is still alive.

Some branches may be yellow green; that means it may be dying but it could rally with a little help so don’t give up on it just yet. Definitely mark that rose for a little extra soil conditioning and give each plant ¼ cup dried coffee grounds, half to one banana peel and 2 tablespoons Epsom salt mixed together. I also add crushed egg shells and dried orange peels when I have them. Feed once a month through the growing season.

You want to keep a shape that leaves air circulating through the center so remove branches that crisscross or are in-growing.

Now that the dead branches are gone, and then the criss-crossing ones have been removed, what is left is almost done.

Look for the pink nodes facing outwards, that's where you want to cut to encourage growth.

Look carefully at what is growing where. Find the pink nodes facing outwards, that’s where the plant will grow. Cut the branch 1/4 inch above the swollen bud at a 45 degree angle, that will encourage the branch to grow outward.

In general, also follow the following guidelines:

If you want your rose bush to be about the same size as it was last year, cut it down by half.

If you want a smaller shrub, prune to one third of its original size.

If you want something larger, prune to two thirds of its original size.

If this is your first year growing roses, prune much lighter at first; I usually wait until at least the second year before doing any pruning.

Charlotte

Pulling Mums Through Winter

Did you plant chrysanthemums last fall? Autumn is the most popular time of year of the four seasons to plant them but not necessarily the best time for the plants.

Chrysanthemums are one of the most hardy cut flowers. It's why most florists use them to fill up flower arrangements and bouquets. They do need a little special care and are well worth it.

To help your mums pull through winter, make sure the plants are kept moist. Water the plants 1-2 times a month by pouring a good gallon of water around roots.

Keep mum roots mulched to minimize changes in temperature causing the roots to literally heave out of the ground.

Here are a couple of mums I bought for 25-cents last fall that are making it so far through our Missouri winter by getting water and being mulched.

From the top it looks like the plant is dead. Plant starts, however, are peeking out from the sides.

By keeping roots moist, plants will be ready to grow as soon as temperatures warm up. The full season of growth will make them stronger for fall blooms and you should now have repeating blooming chrysanthemums.

Charlotte