When to take your Christmas decorations down and eco-friendly ways to dispose of your tree

Christmas tradition dictates that all our decorations and trees should be removed on the Twelfth Night.

But the actual date of this depends on when you determine that the 12 days of Christmas mentioned in the famous carol commences.

According to many traditions, 25 December is the first day. Some, however, mark the beginning of the 12 days from 26 December.

Counting from Christmas Day night or Boxing Day night, this means that either the evening of 5 or 6 January would be Twelfth Night.

The majority of people in England say Twelfth Night is on 5 January.

So, the question now is: what to do with your Christmas tree?

Ideas for Christmas trees after festivities end

Liverpool City Council are offering to recycle Christmas trees for free so they can be used to maintain the city’s parks.

Kenny Brew, the council’s city manager said that mulch from the trees is recycled and maintains flower beds in Liverpool’s parks, bridle paths and walkways.

“There’s a really good use, so that’s why we ask people to recycle in this way,” he said.

The council have set up collection points across the city for residents to drop off their trees.

Meanwhile, the experts at GardeningExpress.co.uk have put together a few different eco-friendly ways to dispose of the tree which can benefit the environment and your garden.

Eco-friendly ways to dispose of your Christmas tree:

1. Turn it into a wildlife habitat

If you want to help out your local wildlife you could always keep your tree and turn it into a safe spot.

Chris Bonnett says “If you have the right tools it’s actually really simple. Just cut up the trunk and leaves into smaller parts and place them together on top of one another in a section of your garden.”

Wildlife will find its way there and it will be a nice warm spot for them.

2. Use the branches to protect garden beds

The cold weather is set to stick around for a bit so you’ll be needing something to protect your plants.

Cut off the branches of your Christmas tree and use them to create a frame around your garden beds and place some fabric over the top to protect them from the weather.

3. Turn it into mulch

Another way to put your tree to use is to chip it up and use it as mulch. Of course, you will only be able to do this if you have access to a woodchipper and know how to use it with the appropriate care.

You can then use the mulch to keep the soil warm around your other plants.

4. Replant it

If your tree was only kept indoors for around 10 days or less, it’s still in good condition to replant.

You’ll need a large space that gets sun but isn’t too exposed to wind and you should ensure that when planting, the hole is around double the size of the tree’s root ball.

Chris also advises that the soil is well-drained and that you water it around once a week.

You may find that it’ll root itself and begin growing again!