A FINE TREE AND TOTALLY FREE
I’m up a ladder doing my best to lop the top off an overgrown conifer in the garden. It’s that time of year again when the front room gets taken over by a prickly tree top festooned with lights and chocolate sweets, yes, it’s the Christmas tree, or as it’s called in some areas of America the Holiday Tree, (for fear of causing an offence).
WIND BREAKS
We have decided not to go down to the local farm this year to buy a tree. We have so many evergreen Norway spruce trees being used as wind brakes around the garden I thought it would be more environmentally sound (and cheaper) to get our own.
Ronnie and I took our time wandering around to see which treetop would suit us the best. Most of the conifers have been lopped off at some stage of their lives and now have double heads on them. The two shoots look good together but only have growth on one side when they are separated so we eventually found one with just the one main trunk.
GETTING HIGH
I am not brave enough to reach the heights alone on an extendable ladder so Ronnie offers to hold the bottom rung for me as I climb. I wobble my way all of the way up but realise it’s not going to be high enough. “I’m going higher.” I call down to Ronnie who just manages to dodge the rusty bow saw I am using at it slips out of my hand. “Sorry about that, are you all right? I shout down. “Yes,” replies Ronnie, “It missed me by millimetres.” With a sigh of relief I tentatively climb down a few steps to get the saw back then I make my way up again. This time I leave the top rung of the ladder in order to get more leverage. I step carefully onto an upper branch levering myself into a position to get a better cutting angle.
ROUGH CUT
The saw has seen better days but obliges by roughly cutting either side of the trunk and after a lot of grunting and rasping (me, not the saw) the top comes crashing down past me and onto the ground. I’m clinging onto the flimsy upper branch that is bouncing up and down with the release of the weight of the tree top. I have broken out into a sweat and with pine cones tickling my nose and needles having made a home down the back of my shirt…suddenly €20 for a tree from Coillte sounds like a bit of a bargain.
TIMBER
“You all right Ronnie?” I ask nervously as I look down. The ladder is still in place, so is Ronnie and thankfully the treetop came down well away from where he was standing. “Yep.” he says calmly He is looking at the tree with a critical eye that he has inherited from his mother. “It’s a bit on the big side,” he comments, as I start to make my way back down to earth.
“Up there it looked quite small.” I say picking the tree up and sliding it onto the drive. “I thought it would be about six feet.” I say as I stand next to it.
“You can double that, it’s at least twelve feet,” says Ronnie as he takes my photo.
I feel like I am posing along side a giant shark that I have landed after a lengthy battle in the Atlantic.
It feels good.
After the high of the successful hunt, I slide the tree over to the back of the house and put the trunk into a bucket of water, this will keep it fresh until tomorrow when it will take pride of place in the front room until the last needles drop off in to the carpet after the New Year.
After the twelfth night, try these ideas to save the trees going to landfills….
WAYS TO RE-USE THE TREE
1. Cut the branches off and lay them over perennials in your garden. This will provide protection.
2. You can cut the branches up into smaller pieces and use them to mulch your beds or garden paths. I am trying not to mention burning the tree this year, it seems to be frowned upon by environmentalists and the fine needles do tend to flare up very quickly, making them dangerous.
3. Once you've used all the branches, you'll be left with a trunk. This can be used as a bird feeder pole or to make teepees to grow beans on or a rustic fence pole.
4. Provide a home for the birds. Remove the decorations, replace with bird feeders and place the tree, stand and all, out in the garden.
5. Cut the branches off and use them at the base of a fresh compost pile. It's a good idea to have coarser materials, like tree branches, at the bottom of the pile because it helps increase airflow to the pile.
6. Sink it in a pond. A tree can offer refuge to fish. Only do this if you’re sure the tree hasn’t been treated with chemicals that could harm the aquatic ecosystem.
Happy Christmas and don’t forget to have a walk around the garden over the holidays.
