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What to do with the tree after the new year? For beauty and freshness. The most difficult way to save a tree

New Year is a magical holiday that adults and children are looking forward to. Dressed forest beauty fills the house with a subtle scent of pine needles, bright toys and tinsel cheer up, make the atmosphere cheerful and fabulous. Wonderful days pass quickly. What to do with the Christmas tree after the New Year holidays is an acute question for most families.

Taking the tree to the trash heap is a bad idea, exacerbating the environmental problems of our country. There are many options for recycling Christmas trees that are beneficial and not harmful to the environment.

Garbage harm to the environment

A huge amount of garbage in recent years has become a global problem for humanity. Many do not think about the scale of the disaster and continue to thoughtlessly pollute the planet.

When people take Christmas trees to the trash heap, an unenviable fate awaits them. The trees can be taken to a landfill, where they will be stored along with other waste, or burned.

  • There are landfills in every city. Tons of rubbish release toxic fumes, contaminate groundwater and cause many other damages.
  • Incinerators are widely used for waste disposal. They cause great damage to nature. In some settlements, the composition of the air has greatly deteriorated because of them.

The way out of the disastrous situation can be the recycling of waste. It is able to prevent littering of the planet with waste, air pollution from incineration plants, soil poisoning with toxic fumes and improve the environmental situation in general. Therefore, it is important to recycle the Christmas tree and thereby contribute to the preservation of the environment.

Useful uses of Christmas trees

On the eve of the holiday, ask the housing and communal services what centers for waste disposal are in your city. In Russia, this useful industry is just beginning to develop. Often the house management enters into a waste disposal contract. Representatives of the company collect spruce after the holiday, take it to the warehouse and store it in special conditions. After 10 years, humus is obtained from the trees, which is used for fertilizers in agriculture.

Many recycling companies have machines for crushing fir trees.

  • The resulting sawdust is a valuable product for summer residents. They insulate the beds for the winter and are used to fertilize the soil.
  • On farms, sawdust is sprinkled on the places where animals are kept.
  • In industry it is used as a raw material for chipboard and packaging.
  • In some boiler houses, wood waste is needed for fuel.

Zoos are happy to accept Christmas trees. It is useful to feed pets with their needles, as it contains a lot of vitamins and nutrients. If you decide to take the forest beauty to the zoo, keep in mind that trees are taken there only with needles. For bare trunks, other uses must be found.

The substances found in pines and spruces are an important element for the creation of some medicines and cosmetic products. In big cities, you can find centers accepting trees for these purposes.

After the New Year, the Department of the Environment conducts an action to collect Christmas trees in many regional centers. Its members must bring them to special points. From there, the company's employees take out the spruce for recycling.

What do they do with Christmas trees abroad

Abroad, the process of processing New Year's trees has long been put on stream and debugged to the smallest detail. In order not to pollute nature, in European countries they have found a lot of applications for forest beauties.

There is a recycling center in almost every American city. After the Christmas holidays, the citizens take the trees there. There they make raw materials for:

  • paper making;
  • building materials;
  • biofuels;
  • litter for cat litter.

Sweden is a small country that cares about the environment and conserves its resources. There, Christmas trees are used for centralized heating. With their help, the Swedes warm about 10 percent of houses. In addition, spruce wood is taken to furniture factories and made into chairs, armchairs and other furnishings.

In developed countries, recycling is of great importance. In Germany, holiday trees are processed into fertilizers. Planks are made from large spruces, souvenirs, knives for butter are made, and even used in the development of medicines for the flu.

The benefits of a Christmas tree in the country

If you have a country house, don't worry about where to put your Christmas tree. Take the Christmas tree to your dacha. In winter, you can cut it to light the fireplace in the room or save it for other purposes.

  • Experienced summer residents know that Christmas trees are of great value. They chop them into small pieces and use them as mulch for fruit trees.
  • A strawberry plantation sprinkled with coarse sawdust requires much less maintenance. Grass does not grow in it, moisture evaporates less, and ripe berries do not get dirty in the ground and do not rot.
  • Potato beds, powdered with chips, bypasses the bear and the wireworm. This helps to maintain a rich harvest.
  • Young plants are covered with thin spruce twigs before the onset of cold weather. They reliably protect fragile roots from frost and save plants from death.

The thick trunk of the forest beauty can be used to decorate the backyard. If you chop it into small round pieces with an ax, they will make an excellent border for a flower bed, a fence for a path, or an interesting creative composition.

How to use a Christmas tree at home

Sometimes it is impossible to send a tree for recycling. In this case, there is no need to be upset. There are many options for the beneficial use of the Christmas tree.

Chopping the twigs and stem of the tree makes pieces of wood an excellent craft material. They can be used to paint beautiful miniatures, burn drawings or carve small wooden sculptures. It is interesting to be engaged in creativity together with the child. On long winter evenings, you will create more than one masterpiece.

Thin oval rounds look beautiful in the kitchen as coasters for cups, pans or pots.

Before sawing the tree, be sure to collect the needles. It contains valuable nutrients that are indispensable for human health. It is easy to prepare a decoction for a relaxing bath from them.

  • To do this, measure out a glass of needles, put them in a saucepan, pour half a liter of water and put on fire.
  • Bring to a boil and turn off after 10 minutes.
  • Pour warm water into the bath and add the strained broth there.
  • Relax in the healing water for 20 minutes. It relieves fatigue and improves sleep.

It is not difficult to make the skin soft and velvety with a scrub. Take in equal proportions needles and dry tangerine crusts. Grind them with a coffee grinder and combine with sea salt in a 1: 1 ratio. Dilute the mixture with some water before use. The scrub is recommended to be applied to the body once a week.

For colds and to strengthen the immune system, it is useful to make a special paste.

  • Finely chop 300 g of needles, mix them with 200 g of flower honey and 50 g of bee propolis.
  • Store the homogeneous mass in the refrigerator, transferring it to a glass jar, hermetically covering with a lid.
  • Take 1 tsp. three times a day until the remedy runs out.

If you still haven't figured out what to do with the trees after the New Year, try handicraft. The needles make wonderful small aromatic pads. You will need to dry the needles slightly, pick up a natural fabric, cut two squares out of it and sew them on three sides. Fill the pillow tightly with the prepared needles and carefully sew up the fourth side. Such aromatic souvenirs are useful for the whole family. When placed at the head of the bed, they normalize sleep and make breathing easier.

Artificial trees

Nowadays, many people prefer to purchase artificial Christmas trees. This significantly reduces the damage to the environment caused by illegal felling of spruce for the holiday.

At the same time, the production of such trees strongly pollutes the atmosphere, and it is difficult to dispose of them. When such a tree ends up in a landfill, it will decompose on it for about 200 years, contaminating the air around it with toxic substances. Burning plastic trees is dangerous. From this, carcinogens enter the atmosphere.

Therefore, if you decide to purchase an artificial tree, treat it with care and try to make it serve you for many years. This will save yourself the trouble of buying a new product and reduce the problem of plastic recycling on the planet.

I just did a whole lot of research! I climbed the internet on this topic. In general, I must say that all this talk, that the tree can be given to the zoo to be eaten by animals, is empty.
Many write that they tried to take the tree to the zoo or even to the circus, but no one needs them there. They don't even need a boiler room, because nowadays very few people heat with firewood.
In the end, I found an article on how you can use a Christmas tree just at home - for the house, for the family. I'm not sure if this will work out as it should, but it's worth a try. Here is the article.

***
New Year's holidays are passing. Every day the moment is approaching when the need to remove the tree will grow into a need: after all, it takes up a lot of space, and a lot of dust has collected.
Finally, the toys are packed and safely hidden until the end of the new year and the question arises of what to do with the tree - after all, a good housewife does not waste anything. If you had a felled beauty - do not rush to say goodbye to her, she may come in handy after the holidays.
First, collect the needles, and if you find, the resin. It is the winter needles of spruce and pine that are rich in ascorbic acid, vitamins B, E and iron.


To strengthen the immune system
To strengthen the immune system, we will brew a vitamin drink from pine needles.
Thoroughly rinse the collected needles with cold water, cut with scissors, put in an enamel bowl and fill with cold boiled water (¾ glass of water in a glass of needles), add a little lemon juice or citric acid, close the pan with a lid and let it brew for 2-3 days, not forgetting constantly go to the pan and shake it.
After this period, the infusion must be filtered, honey or sugar must be added and you can drink - half a glass a day.
For those who have little time, but want to use needles, two simpler recipes:
1. Pour a glass of pine needles with one liter of water and bring to a boil, leave for 24 hours. Take half a glass of infusion before meals. This infusion is also very useful for frequent colds and prolonged coughs.
2. Grind pine needles in a mortar with a little cold boiled water. Then add enough boiled water so that the ratio of pine needles to water is 1:10. The solution must be slightly acidified with lemon or citric acid, boil for 20-30 minutes, insist for 3 hours, strain and take as a general tonic 2 times a day after meals, half or one third of a glass.


For beauty and freshness
Did you know that pine needles have healing properties. You can make various face masks from pine needles (for any skin type!). These masks allow you to restore the natural balance of the skin, give the face freshness and rejuvenate you.
In winter, it is especially important to take care of your face. This nourishing mask will help you be special: 1 tbsp. a spoonful of broth needles (see recipes above), mix with 2 tbsp. tablespoons of soft cottage cheese and 1 teaspoon of honey, mix well, apply on face, keep for 10 minutes. Remove with a swab dipped in warm water or chamomile tea. Then throw an ice cube into the remaining chamomile tea and wash. Several of these masks will leave your skin supple, velvety and radiant.
Our face has received proper care. Now you can pamper your body with a homemade scrub. For the scrub, we need needles, dry tangerine peels and simple sea salt. The needles and boxes of tangerine must be ground in a coffee grinder or grind in a mortar, add sea salt (you can use a 1: 1 ratio). Add warm water or some shower gel to the dry mix before use.


At the end of the working week, it is pleasant to relax and gain strength in a wonderful pine bath. The pine bath, like the infusion, will soothe you after stressful everyday life. Prepare a broth: pour a glass of chopped needles with a liter of boiling water, keep on fire for 10 minutes. Then we filter and pour into the bath. Doctors and cosmetologists recommend staying in such a bathroom for ten to twenty minutes, but no more.
And if you add 1-2 drops of tea tree essential oil to a part of the decoction prepared for the bath, rub into the hair roots and wet the hair along the entire length, and then rinse off after 10 minutes, your hair will grow much better.
Also, spruce needles can be useful for a husband. To prepare an after-shave lotion, you will need half a glass of chopped pine needles and half a liter of vodka. Pour the needles with vodka and leave for 7-10 days. The lotion refreshes the skin of the face, relieves irritation, inflammation, and heals cuts after shaving faster.

For home
We will create a wonderful natural floor cleaner from the needles.
We need: half a glass of soap shavings, a quarter of a glass of baking soda, a glass of salt, two glasses of broth needles (can be replaced with plain water), if there is essential pine oil - 2 teaspoons. Heat the shavings, soda and salt with a decoction (or water) until all the loose ingredients dissolve, then cool and add pine oil. Stir and pour into a screw cap bottle. Before washing the floors, add 3-4 tablespoons to a bucket of hot water, mix thoroughly. After washing the floors, they should be wiped with clean water with the addition of vinegar (a glass for half a bucket).
Such a tool is somewhat laborious to use, but natural, without chemicals.
Needle infusion also helps in the fight against aphids. Pour 500 grams of needles with 2 liters of water, leave for a week in a dark place, dilute in a 1: 7 ratio before use, treat the plants.
For the mood


The needles will help maintain a wonderful mood after the New Year holidays. In a coffee grinder, you need to grind the needles, mix with a little water. Make a cone out of thick paper and stuff it tightly with the mixture, then dry on the battery. You have got incense sticks, you can set them on fire and enjoy the pleasant aroma of the past holidays.
For hobbies
Baskets and other decorative elements are woven from pine needles or from cedar needles. Needle weaving is a long-standing art of Russians, but like many other folk crafts, it is forgotten and almost unknown to anyone. But on the Internet there are master classes on weaving from cedar needles by American Indians.


Not only needles are useful for creating wonderful crafts. The trunk of our beauty can be cut into small round or oval planks. They can be used both as coasters for cups or other containers, and as a basic form for various crafts: from small painted miniatures to a burning board.
And in many countries, after the holidays, spruce is collected from the population and processed either for fertilization or for feed to zoos. So do not rush to get rid of the spruce - it gives not only the mood for the New Year, but also health and joy every day of the year.

Soon, at the end of all New Year and Christmas holidays, thousands of Christmas trees with crumbling and yellowed needles will fill our yards and trash cans. At the sight of such a picture, perhaps, every gardener's heart bleeds. So today, let's talk about how to save the tree until Christmas next year by planting it in your garden.

In recent years, many vendors have been offering potted Christmas trees. So why not take advantage of such an offer and, in the end, after the holidays, when the tree fulfills its solemn mission, not plant it in the garden? Let's figure it out in detail, step by step, how to act. True, I cannot guarantee you one hundred percent that the tree will take root, but if you follow all the rules, your chances will increase significantly.

So, you are the proud owner of a Christmas tree in a tub. Then take a look around your garden and find a good spot where the tree can grow to a large size. Small Christmas trees from the tub need to be given special care so that they will not die after a successful planting in the garden.

Step 1 - watering and moisturizing

The beautiful coniferous trees with peas, which the garden centers offer us, are often initially grown in the open field. And as soon as they grow to a certain size, they are dug out of the ground and transplanted into pots, while cutting the roots. That is why it is not so easy to give a second life to a potted spruce garden. Such a tree usually has a damaged root system. The tub tree that decorates your home during the holidays needs abundant watering. The earth ball must be constantly and evenly moistened. Drying out or waterlogging is unacceptable. Since the tree needs humid air, it is good to place a humidifier nearby or put a wide container of water, and also spray the plant regularly. It is better to take water for irrigation and spraying separated, at room temperature. In a heated room, any tree can be kept for no longer than two weeks without harm to its health. Install it away from radiators and radiators, which increase the risk of drying out. For a Christmas tree, the cooler the better.

Step 2 - transplant

At the end of the New Year and Christmas holidays, take time to transplant your tree into a different container. For a tree to grow and develop, its roots need much more space than in the previous pot. The new container must be at least 10 centimeters larger than the previous one! At the same time, add some fresh garden soil, tamp it gently around the plant with your hands and water. Attention: be careful with the roots, do not damage them! Don't cut anything! The plant will no longer withstand repeated root pruning.

There must be drain holes in the bottom of the new container. The plant needs a lot of water, but stagnant moisture in the pot can be detrimental to it. During transplantation, it is recommended to add fertilizer for conifers to the substrate, which provides the tree with adequate nutrition with the necessary elements at all stages of growth and development.

Step 3 - correct temperature setting

A tree transplanted into a new container should not be in an apartment all winter. Unfortunately, this is not a houseplant and needs fresh cool air and plenty of light. Therefore, you should definitely put your green beauty on the street, but for this you need to prepare it. Just imagine what a shock the plant will receive if from a warm apartment, where the air temperature is about + 21 ° C, take it directly to the garden, where sub-zero temperatures prevail day and night! As a rule, spruces are frost-resistant plants, but they cannot stand a sharp temperature drop, however, like any other plant.

Therefore, after transplanting ate into a larger pot or tub, arrange acclimatization by placing it, for example, in a garage (provided, of course, that there is a window in it), a shed or an unheated greenhouse. In short, in a room where the air temperature does not exceed + 5 ° C - + 10 ° C. Thus, the plant will slowly get used to low temperatures. After two weeks, the tree can be transferred to the garden by wrapping the pot with hay or straw so that the root system, vulnerable to cold weather, does not freeze.

Step 4 - add magnesium sulfate heptahydrate

Two weeks after transplanting, it is recommended to feed the herringbone with magnesium sulfate seven-water. This fertilizer prevents the needles from browning, which often occurs when there is a lack of magnesium. Magnesium sulfate, also known as Epsom salts, is usually available in powder form, which is then diluted with water, or in granules. To avoid overdosing, simply follow the general recommendations on the fertilizer package.

Step 5 - transplanting the tree from the pot to the garden

And only in spring, when the plants are not threatened by frosts, can the tree be transplanted from the pot into the garden, to a permanent place. To do this, as usual when planting trees, you need to prepare a hole slightly larger in size than an earthen lump.

Since the tree needs a lot of water, pour a watering can into the hole first. The bottom and side walls of the planting pit should be well moistened. Then place the tree in the hole so that the root collar remains at ground level, straighten the roots and cover them with earth, into which it is previously recommended to mix fertilizer for conifers again.

In the first two weeks, the most important thing for a young tree is water. Water your tree regularly so the ground never dries out.


Form a side along the perimeter of the pit, then the water during irrigation will linger inside the side, and not spread to the sides.


After watering, it is advisable to mulch the soil in the trunk circle.

Attention! Choose the right location

Since many of us choose spruce as a New Year's tree, we will talk about this type of tree. Before you transplant a tree into the garden, you must be aware of the fact that spruce trees grow to a fairly large size. Therefore, the question of choosing a place for planting a New Year's tree in the garden must be approached deliberately.

Keep in mind that conifers grow 20-30 cm in height every year, so that a tiny tree at first will turn into a stately beautiful spruce in a few years. In general, most varieties of Christmas trees prefer to grow in bright sunlight or in partial shade on nutritious and well-drained, acidic soils, they cannot stand salinity, dryness and stagnant water in the root collar area. The root system of fir trees is shallow, so they do not like soil compaction.

Alternatively - planting a Christmas tree in the forest

If your garden isn't big enough to house a Christmas tree, why not transplant it from a pot into the forest? This will be a great occasion to gather the whole family and spend time in nature, as well as on the eve of the next New Year with your children, grandchildren or good hands to visit your own Christmas tree planted with your own hands.

Pruning spruce branches

A young tree that is properly pruned and shaped early in life will require minimal pruning in mature years. Pruning stimulates branching, making the spruce thicker and more compact. For this procedure you will need, for example, brush cutters with corrugated blades. New, bright green needles form at the tops of the shoots, so the branches of the spruce should not be cut too much. Regular pruning is carried out only when the tree reliably takes root on the site. Heavily pruned branches, as a rule, die off quickly, and young needles are no longer formed on them.

Observing the rules of planting and further care, you can watch how your young New Year tree turns into a stately beautiful spruce every year, which in its evergreen outfit will decorate the garden all year round and give it a unique personality. In addition, the seeds under the scales of the cones are a real treat for birds and squirrels in the difficult winter period.

Hopefully, these tips will help you grow your own Christmas tree!

Let's start with the sad. Every year in Russia, more than 1 million spruce is cut down, and where do they all go? First - to our house, and then - to guard the garbage cans. Do they deserve such a life? After all, these coniferous helpers produce oxygen for us, and we do not spare them a single drop. So if you could not give up the full-fledged New Year's atmosphere and replace a real spruce with an artificial one, then let's at least try to extend its life. This is exactly what we are going to talk about today.

For gardeners

Of course, an experienced gardener knows all the pros and cons of conifers used specifically for the garden, but do you know how the spruce helps? Let's find out.

Spruce needles as fertilizer

Spruce trees are suitable for fertilizing plants that like acidic soil. Sunflower, tulip, rose, forget-me-not, zinnia and many others. If you have a huge number of flowers in your garden, then fertilizer from the needles will help each of them bloom.

Mulch

What is it anyway? Mulch is a cover for soil that is applied on top of the ground. The materials for her are quite simple: grass, chopped leaves, straw and hay, spruce is great. Mulch is used to retain moisture in the soil, keeping it cool. If you decide to use coniferous needles, then this type of coating will also delight you and scare you off with a pest. Now unwanted guests will bypass your garden.

Christmas tree for weed control

For home

In addition to decorative purposes, spruce needles will cope with a number of wonderful things that will help you in your everyday life and bring joy.

Stoke the fireplace with fir branches

If you have a fireplace at home, you can say lucky twice. What could be better than pouring a cup of cocoa or mulled wine on a cold winter evening, grabbing your favorite book, throwing a warm blanket over your shoulders and sitting by the fireplace? Perhaps adding a touch of New Year's mood using spruce branches. The aroma of this wonderful pine needles will spread throughout the room and it will seem that the New Year's holidays are not over. Eh, lucky someone.

Sachet their conifers

Wonderful scented pads are gaining popularity every year. They are great replacements for conventional store-bought air fresheners. Environmentally friendly and safe, have disinfectant properties and even increase immunity. So, if a tree appears at home, do not rush to say goodbye to it. It doesn't take a lot of mind to make these pillows. You will need spruce needles, which you need to grind well, and a small cloth pad (you can sew 2 shreds together). Such a sachet will serve you for 3 months, and then you can either throw it away, or soak it with essential oils and use it further.

Air freshener for kitchen

In general, the kitchen is a place where different smells accumulate, ranging from pleasant ones to not very good ones. What doesn't belong in the kitchen is chemical flavors. That is why it is a good idea to use leftover spruce branches and needles. You can hang a conifer sachet or hang spruce twigs on a beautiful ribbon.

If you urgently need to eliminate an unpleasant smell, for example, burning, use this life hack. Place a pot of water on the stove, add pine needles and let it boil, then reduce the heat. The smell of spruce will quickly spread throughout the apartment and eliminate the unpleasant odor.

Furniture polishing

Those who frequently have to polish furniture know how unsafe it is due to the chemical composition of the product used to polish.

After the holidays, you can make a budgetary and non-toxic furniture product from a Christmas tree. Collect the needles and pour into a jar, then pour 9% vinegar (you can use apple cider vinegar) and leave for 3 weeks in a dark cool place. After the time has elapsed, check if the mixture has fermented (with proper storage, this is excluded) and, if everything is in order, when using, pour the product into a sprayer, polish the furniture, and put the rest back. This tool is quite popular with the older generation.

For health

To be healthy is to be happy. You can’t argue with that. Since ancient times, instead of pills, everyone was treated with infusions of herbs and berries, and they considered such treatment to be the most correct and useful. Pine needles are still a popular health and tonic product and are often used for cosmetic purposes. How can needles help? Let's find out.

Spruce foot perfume

Everyone's feet smell, and there's no getting around it. The best flavors are those with natural oils and a minimum of chemistry. But finding such a tool is difficult enough, so it's best to make it yourself. For this you will need: spruce twigs and needles, cinnamon sticks, lemon or orange essential oil. Put all the ingredients in a jar, fill with hot water and leave to infuse in a cool dark place for 5 or 6 days. Then strain the infusion and pour it into a container with a sprayer convenient for you.

Life hack for shoes: If your shoes start to smell unpleasant, place a pillow filled with pine needles with the addition of essential oil in them and leave them overnight. The sachet will absorb all the moisture and eliminate the unpleasant odor. This tool can be used 5-6 times.

Get rid of sweating feet

Many are faced with this problem, and here fir branches and needles will also come to the rescue. Soak some needles in a bowl of hot water, add a couple of drops of essential oil, let cool slightly and lower your feet. 15-20 minutes of such a procedure several times a week will create a cumulative effect, your legs will sweat less, and in addition, the growth of bacteria and fungus will stop.

Decoction of pine needles for the bath

A decoction of pine needles perfectly tones and soothes the skin, and it is quite simple to prepare. 5-6 hours before taking a bath, you need to throw coniferous branches and needles into cold water, bring to a boil on the stove, later turn off and let it brew for a couple of hours. Later, this broth will remain in the already recruited bath - and you can immerse yourself. Not only will you soothe your skin, but you will also smell a scent that will delight everyone.

Life hack for hair: you can also rinse your hair with this broth. Mix it with water in proportions 2 to 1 (more broth) and after washing your hair, rinse your head with shampoo. This infusion will add shine and softness to the hair, and with prolonged use, it will strengthen it.

If you still could not refuse a real tree, then let's give it a 2nd life. May she please us not only on New Year's holidays, but also for some time after, bringing maximum benefit. And most importantly - do not forget: 1 tree was cut down, 2 were planted.