We got our tree today, and it made me wonder - anyone ever consider just cutting it up and mulching it into the lawn when it's done? Not the main trunk, of course, but the stuff the mower could handle.

You can if you wish, although pine needles are notoriously slow to decay. Still, if you mulch them finely enough they'll fall into your grass and be invisible quite quickly.

I always used to mulch my tree until we switched to artificial. In many communities, the leftover trees are collected and mulched, then used in various city facilities and/or given away or sold to anybody who wants some. The drawback to the trees that the city grinds is that some of them may have been flocked, etc.

Right, I was able to find plenty of info about using trees as mulch for beds and such, and maybe I will do that, but i was wondering specifically about the lazy way of just fuming pieces on the lawn and running it over with the mower. Maybe I'll just have try it out.

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I've done what you are talking about the last two years. Our town doesn't do the tree Recycling thing. We get white pines and I cut off all the branches smaller than a half inch and throw them around the yard and run them over. I make sure the blade is fairly sharp. It makes a lot of noise but doesn't seem to damage the blade. The trunk gets cut up with a saw and put on the fire wood pile.

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