What To Do With Fallen Tree Branches In Your Yard

After strong winds or some serious landscaping work, you may end up with some fallen tree branches cluttering your yard. Or, as temperatures rise, some previously fallen branches might start to emerge from melting piles of snow. They're not just an eyesore, but also a potential tripping hazard. So, what should you do with these piles of debris?  The easiest way is to bring them to a waste collection facility. You can bring them yourself if you have the right vehicle, or arrange a pickup.

Plenty of towns have their own recycling programs for yard waste and facilities where you can bring yard debris, like fallen branches, so that they can be handled for you. Research your town or county's yard waste programs online or call your city's sanitation department. In some cities, you can arrange for curbside pickup of your green waste directly. These pickups might be on specific dates and only a few times a year. If you missed that deadline or your town doesn't offer pickup, you have two other options: bring your fallen branches to the facility yourself or hire a private company to help you. These companies do other types of junk pickup and can handle yard waste for a fee, which is helpful if you don't have the right vehicle to transport them yourself. 

Your first thought might be to burn these branches on-site — but not so fast. Open fires are not allowed everywhere in the United States, and, in many cases, bylaws are pretty strict about burning waste outdoors to prevent fire risks. In addition, the branches might be soaked with water, which can prevent them from burning. If you have an indoor fireplace and would like to use some of the fallen branches as fuel, store the ones that are not rotten and let them dry before burning them, which might take months.

If you can't burn fallen branches, you may be able to compost them. In theory, wood can go into your own DIY compost as long as it's not diseased, but smaller pieces like twigs and small branches will compost much faster than bigger logs. Larger wood pieces and branches are not a good fit for composting because they take a long time (years or even decades) to decompose.

Of course, you can keep some of these branches to make DIYs and wildlife habitats, like a natural DIY birdhouse that'll have birds flocking to your yard. You can also save some branches until the holidays to DIY an ethereal winter wonderland with some spray paint.