Warrnambool City Council and the Warrnambool Community Garden have formed a partnership to dispose of Christmas trees in a sustainable way.

Council staff got to work on Wednesday at the community garden, shredding 280 Christmas trees.

This produced 16 cubic meters of mulch, which was spread out on paths at the gardens.

Community gardens site manager Daniel Stockdale said each year members of the public are encouraged to bring in their Christmas trees for disposal once they have been used.

This program has been happening for the last five years.

Once the trees are collected, the council then come in and put them through their shredder.

The end result is a significant pile of pine mulch.

The uptake increased this year, up from 240 trees from the previous Christmas.

“We use pine oil on the paths to kill the weeds so the mulch from the Christmas trees provides that oil in a natural source,” Mr Stockdale said.

“If we put this mulch on the gardens beds, it would most likely kill what was in there, but it is ideal for the paths.

“And of course, it gives people a good way to get rid of their Christmas trees so its a win-win situation.”

The top five native Australian Christmas trees are Norfolk Pine, Australian native conifers, She-oak conifers, Wollemi pines and Lillypillies.