Many people feel uneasy about leaving Christmas decorations up after twelfth night. It was thought long ago that leaving decorations up would cause bad luck or disaster. It was thought that green spirits lived in the holy and ivy etc that people decorated their houses with. The greenery was used as decoration in the house to give a safe haven for the tree-spirits during the cold midwinter days. Once this period was over it was necessary to return the greenery back outside to release the tree-spirits into the countryside again. If this was not carried out this would mean that vegetation would not begin to grow again.
People also believed that if you left the holy and ivy in the house after Twelfth Night the tree spirits would make mischief in the house.
So whether you are superstitious or not, it has probably come to the stage where you would like to take the decorations off the Christmas tree and have it removed. Kensington and Chelsea Council is offering free Christmas tree recycling for residents. Residents can recycle their Christmas trees by leaving them next to the kerb on the pavement between 4 and 17 January. Or trees can be dropped off at various collection points. For more details, please click on the the RBKC Website.
