After the Christmas season is over, it important to dispose of trees in a responsible manner.

More options are becoming available to the Christmas tree consumer. Much of the time, trees are put into the trash. These trees will ultimately end up in the landfill. It is much better, if possible, to avoid putting trees in the trash and, ultimately, the landfill. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

If you live outside of the Winchester city limits, check with your trash disposal service to see if they have a special pick-up date for Christmas trees.

In Winchester, Winchester Municipal Utilities offers tree pick-up for their customers. This year, the pick-up will occur Jan. 16-19. To find out the exact pick-up day, customers should contact WMU.

If you do not live inside the city limits and your trash pick-up service does not offer a tree pick-up, Clark County residents can drop their  Christmas trees off in the yard waste container at the WMU recycling center.

Another option is to turn your Christmas tree into a wildlife feeder. You can put the tree out in the backyard with peanut-buttered pine cones, or cups and strings of popcorn and cranberries for wildlife food habitat.

In some parts of the state, tree are recycled as fish habitat in lakes. For more information about how to do this on your property, contact the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife. Do not dump your tree on others’ property or on the roadside. This is considered illegal dumping.

Using a “real” or living Christmas tree can add a lot to the holiday, but it is important to keep them out of the landfill and dispose of them properly.

If you would like to know more about this topic, or about planting trees that were harvested with root balls, call the Clark County Extension Service at 744-4682. Remember, the Clark County Extension Office is closed for the holidays. We will return to the office on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

David Davis is the Clark County Cooperative Extension Service Agent for Agriculture and Natural Resources.