Charleston makes it easy to rehome your tree once the holidays and the tree have dried up.
People in the Lowcountry often go to great lengths to create a wintery sort of holiday cheer, which is often difficult when December 25 ends up 74º and humid. We were fortunate this year, it was crisp. Those with a better than average suspension of disbelief could almost have believed the frosted snow product on your neighbor’s faux firs was real.
I sympathize with friends that have a composition more suited to non-subtropical climates, as I imagine it can be a startling adjustment. For a quick fix I often suggest spending a weekend or so in Asheville – we call it our mountain town. We’re their beach town.
It’s also that area around Asheville where many tree farms supply us with those pop-up mini-forests full of foreign-looking mountain trees every November. We mostly import them, as they grow much better in the foothills of the Appalachians than in a hot ass Lowcountry summer.
Once the ornaments are tucked away and the lights rolled up, decide what to do with your tree. If you live in Charleston County you’re in luck because not only is it pretty effortless, but also the tree is completely recycled.
Not only that, come springtime the gardeners are picking up bags of fresh compost that includes all the trees from Christmas Past.
Instructions: throw your tree on the curb.
Most (or all?) of Charleston County has regular debris pickup service – like snow plows, but they’re year-round and have pine tree claws.
If you’re in a spot that just doesn’t pick up for whatever reason, you can drop off a tree. It’s basically the reverse of when you picked it up a few weeks ago only this time you’re going to:
- one of the county’s convenience centers, or
- the composting facility at the Bees Ferry site where they actually grind up the trees and vegetable scraps (which you can donate to) and all the plant debris that gets blown around all summer and they work it into compost, which actually sounds like a field trip I may take myself on
Garden people, pick up locally produced organic compost here:
Buy Compost in Charleston County
P.S. – since I first wrote this the recycling nerds at the county have been running a pretty solid presence on Facebook with just about everything you need to know: Charleston County Environmental Management
