There's one Christmas tradition we celebrate here which could be called, well, untraditional. Beginning around New Years there is a two week window to recycle your Christmas tree at a nearby recycling center. During this time some trees are mulched, and though this mulch is open to the public, almost no one takes advantage of this gift. Some say it is too acidic, or perhaps it is too much work. Perhaps it's embarrassing to be seen taking advantage of this "handout."
To us it is an opportunity not to be wasted, and, in a way it honors the tree which gave itself up for our holiday festivities. We forego the Christmas tree tradition now but we did have them in the past, when our daughters were growing up. One year we were at Target (when they sold trees) and noticed all the pine needles on the floor. We asked if we could sweep them up and take them, and they accepted, with puzzled looks. We were able to get 7 large bags of needles, which I put into a freshly dug 3x5x3 hole which we turned over occasionally, our nostrils twitching with the fresh smell of mulchy decay. The next year summer watermelon came up in this garden somehow, without planting. When it ripened we decided to try one, and IT WAS THE BEST WATERMELON-EVER!. We were sold on pine needles for mulch.
This year we were late since last weekend we were moving our daughter into her new house. In two trips we filled twenty five bags of "FREE MULCH." That's probably over a hundred dollars worth of mulch. We also trimmed the soft furry branches off 4 trees, while tying another tree to our roof, re-recycling it. Mrs S and her friend Tonya were a tremendous help, and it was nice to have company on the trips. Tonya remarked, "If you told me I would be doing this five years ago I would have said you were crazy!" Today was the last day to recycle your tree, but we hope more mulch will be available this week since the twenty five bags are already used and we need much more. Here are some benefits of our endeavors the past two years.
Mulch protects soil from damaging sun's rays.
Looks great in front yard or back with it's light colors.
Smells terrific, and after a rain your yard smells like pine for months.
Used chips/mulch to build up soil behind newly built stone walls (rainharvesting technique).
Mrs. S and Tonya cut Christmas tree trunks into stackable slices (cookies), used by their students.
The needle-filled branches are great to put around the roots of plants to prevent freezing (excellent insulation), then the needles drop and create mulch around the plant.
Or you can just bury the branches with your other mulchy items, letting it create air pockets for a richer soil.
This month's Tucson Audubon newsletter, the "Vermilion Flycatcher," mentions Christmas tree recycling and locations to pick up free mulch, see page 23. http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/images/stories/vflycatcher/VF_JFM14.pdf
I hope you try this post Christmas gift of recycling. I guarantee it will make you feel great inside after the very first trip. I will post pics shortly of these chips in our yard. Thank you for your appreciation of wildlife and fauna.
No comments:
Post a Comment