Recycle your Christmas tree, provide shelter to birds

After Christmas, your live cut tree can be moved outside and be redecorated for the birds.

Anchor the tree in a bucket full of damp sand or tie to a fence or tree. Add strings of popcorn and cranberries. Apples, oranges, leftover breads and pine cones covered with peanut butter and then dipped in birdseed can also be added. For best results, push the edible ornaments well into the tree so that they do not blow off as readily. Continue to supply fresh water for birds.

• Recycle Christmas tree branches (cut into 2- to 3-foot sections), swags, wreaths and other evergreen material as mulch for garden and perennial beds. It is best to avoid using flocked trees for this and to remove tinsel and other decorations before putting outside.

Lightweight, open evergreen branches permit moisture to reach the soil but also insulate the roots and crowns of plants from the freeze-thaw-freeze cycle of Midwest winters.

• If purchased as bulbs, paperwhite narcissus can be grown in a pot with a growing medium.

Your container needs to have a drainage hole in the bottom to avoid having soggy soil, which will cause the bulbs to rot. Fill the container with a growing medium appropriate for pots. Leave enough space at the top to allow you to set in the bulbs, pointed end up on top of the mix.

Finish filling the pot with medium while leaving the tips of the bulbs exposed. It will be easier to water the pot if there is a half inch to a 1-inch gap between the top of the pot and the medium. Space the bulbs close enough so that they are almost touching. Check the bulbs frequently and water thoroughly when the potting mix is dry 1 inch below the surface but not more than once a week until the bulbs begin active growth.

Paperwhite narcissus have a very strong fragrance when in flower that can be overpowering in a small space or when displayed in large quantities.

• Tim Johnson is director of horticulture at Chicago Botanic Garden, chicagobotanic.org.