Tradition has it that we take our Christmas down on Twelfth Night (12 nights after Christmas Day), which is either the 5th or 6th January, depending if you’re counting Christmas Day or Boxing Day as night one. But regardless of when you take your tree down, what’s the best thing to do with it?

Here are some creative ideas from Squire’s Garden Centres:

• Use the tree as a stake – strip off the pine needles and use the tree as a fantastic frame for flowers or runner beans to grow up.
• Use the branches – lay branches on top of your flowerbeds to protect them from frost.
• Create a wildlife habitat – put your tree or branches in the corner of your garden and it will make a great shelter for wildlife from the cold, wind and rain.
• Make a bird feeder – place your tree in a heavy pot in the garden so that it doesn’t tip over, and hang different bird feeders on the branches to attract wildlife into your garden.
• Turn it into a natural air freshener – pluck out the pine needles and add them to a bowl of potpourri to give your home a wonderful scent.
• Get creative – slice the wood into rustic coasters, create candle holders or a tealight log.
• Use on a firepit – chop up the branches, wait for them to dry out, then use as firewood in an outdoor fire pit. Don’t use the wood indoors as it can get extremely hot.
• Turn it into mulch – if you have a shredder, cut the branches off the tree then put them in the shredder one by one. Use the mulch around garden trees or shrubs to improve the soil and suppress weeds.
• Recycle it – see what schemes your local council are running. Many will collect your tree from your road so there’s no need for that trip to the dump.
• Replant it – if your tree is ‘pot grown’ then you can replant it in your garden and bring it in again next year.

Squire’s Garden Centres is a successful family-owned horticultural business that serves the local community. There are 16 Squire’s Garden Centres to discover across Surrey, Sussex, Berkshire, North and West London. For more details, visit www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk or follow on social media via the following links: www.facebook.com/SquiresGC  www.twitter.com/SquiresGC  www.pinterest.com/SquiresGC