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LAYTON — As you're cleaning up holiday decorations, you might be wondering what to do with your Christmas tree. Your first instinct may be to throw it in the trash. But instead of chucking it, you might want to chip it.
Monster Tree Service in Layton is one of the privately-owned companies that offers Christmas tree pick-up. Once the trees are collected, the company loads them into the chipping machine to be re-used as mulch.
"This mulch is beneficial because there's wood in there. And the wood placed around in your flowerbeds, for your ornamental shrubs or your trees, would greatly enrich the soil," said Tim Parson, a representative for Monster Tree Service.
"It's very good mulch," Davis County resident Troy Smith said. "It's really thick, rich, brown, dark mulch; and everything grows well in it."
Check with your city, Parson said, as some of them, including Layton, offer curbside pickup of trees during designated time periods. Many municipalities will be processing old Christmas trees from Dec. 27 to Jan. 15, he said.
Some cities also require trees to put cut into 4-foot lengths if they are being picked up.
If you'd prefer to drop your tree off, look into your city's landfill services. They might offer recycling for services.
"I know that the landfill here is a recycling center, and that the tree would become mulch," Smith said. "And we'll be back over in the spring picking up bags of mulch."
But if your Christmas tree is potted, and you'd like to keep it with you year-round, there's always the option of replanting it in your yard.
Parson suggested leaving it in your garage for about a week to allow it to acclimatize.
"Take it out, dig your hole — I know it's frozen. Dig it out, pick it out, properly plant it; make sure you leave 2 inches (between the ground and the lowest branches) when you plant it," Parson said.
"Water it about 15 gallons of water," he said, "stake it in if it's an evergreen so the wind doesn't blow it over, and it should be fine."
