Volunteer gardeners have also shared some simple ways you can reuse your festive tree too
GREEN-FINGERED volunteers in Grangetown have been rescuing Christmas trees dumped on the streets, giving them a new purpose in their eco-friendly garden.
A team of gardeners at Grangetown Kitchen Garden, next to Grangetown Nursery School on Avondale Road, collected five trees found on nearby streets and are using them to support wildlife and reduce noise pollution.
Cardiff Council announced in December that it would not be picking up real Christmas trees from residents’ homes this year due to budget constraints. Instead, residents were asked to dispose of their trees at drop-off points and recycling centres.
As a result, tree dumping has been a problem in Grangetown and across the city, with trees being discarded on streets and in green spaces.
But rather than complaining about the number of abandoned trees, Amy Baldwin, a Grangetown resident and lead gardener at Grangetown Kitchen Garden, saw an opportunity to give them a new lease of life.
“I saw that Cardiff Council wasn’t collecting trees this year and had the idea. We like reusing things here,” she said.
Most of the trees were rescued from nearby Kent Street, after being spotted by volunteer Josie Daly on the school run. “I had four neighbours with four Christmas trees. I just knocked on their doors and asked for them,” said Ms Daly.
While Christmas trees can be replanted, Ms Baldwin plans to use the natural acidity found in the trees to improve existing parts of the garden. The trees’ needles, which can be annoying to clear up from your carpet, can be scattered across areas to help suppress the growth of weeds and other invasive plants.
Her team of gardeners are planning to use the needled branches to stop grass invading the area surrounding the garden’s polytunnel, as well as to create a more walkable path linking the polytunnel to the main path around the garden.
Using the stumps, the gardeners want to begin work on a “dead hedge” for the garden – a structure made from branches, twigs and other trimmings that are woven between stakes. Dead hedges provide a habitat for birds and insects, and Ms Baldwin says it will also help soften the noise from the busy road that runs next to the garden.
She also has the idea of using stumps as seats for the nursery children next door, who regularly visit the garden to do outdoor activities.
Grangetown Kitchen Garden was set up in 2023 in collaboration with Urban-Vertical CIC and Grangetown Nursery School. In October last year, it was handed over to a committee of 11 volunteers, including the headteacher and another teacher at Grangetown Nursery School.
As well as the garden, it runs a weekly food market using leftover food from FareShare, an organisation that redistributes surplus food from food companies to charities.
Still have your Christmas tree and not sure what to do with it?
Here are three tips for how you can reuse your Christmas tree in your garden:
Create a woodland path. The acidity of the pine needles discourages weeds from growing, making them great for making paths through your garden.
Turn your hydrangea from pink to blue. Hydrangeas change colour depending on the pH of the soil. Adding pine needles to the soil can help increase its acidity, which can turn the flowers from pink to blue. Other plants such as heathers and camellias also thrive in acidic soil.
Use the stumps. There are lots of creative ways to use tree stumps in your garden, from using them as a stand for plant pots or turning them into planters. Or take a leaf out of Amy’s book and use them as seats or other pieces of garden furniture.
- You can also bring your tree to one of the council’s recycling centres at Lamby Way or Bessemer Close.
