Every Christmas story needs a happy ending, including one about the traditional centerpiece of holiday decorations — the beautiful evergreen.

Some live Christmas trees, dry and devoid of decorations, are simply tossed out with the trash.

But Con Muller and his colleagues at Lancaster County Department of Parks and Recreation are offering a better fate for those trees.

Beginning today and until Jan. 29, Christmas trees may be taken to Lancaster County Central Park for free recycling.

The trees will be chipped up and, starting next week, turned into mulch, which is also free for county residents to use in their gardens.

Organizers ask for a $1 donation per Christmas tree (there is a three-tree-per-vehicle limit), with proceeds going to the park's tree nursery.

Muller, 33, the county's arborist, says it's a worthwhile project — and a popular one.

"We chip about 1,500 trees every year," he said, and not even a bucket of the approximately 22 tons of mulch was left after last year's recycling project.

"A lot of people know about it," Muller said. "The pile went away real quick because so many people wanted the mulch."

Christmas trees, free of decoration, may be dropped off from dawn to dusk at the mulching station behind the park office, located near the Chesapeake Street entrance.

The mulching program is for residents' Christmas trees only, not commercial haulers.

Evergreen mulch is ideal for acid-loving plants, such as rhododendrons and azaleas, Muller said, but he reminds interested gardeners that they need to bring their own bags, containers and shovels.

The park's Dr. John Moss Tree Nursery provides an assortment of young trees for all eight county parks, Muller explained, whether it's for the popular memorial tree program or simply to replace a dead tree.

Muller said he and his crew "take care of all the mature trees in the parks, prune them and evaluate them; if they are unsafe, we do a full removal."

Muller said they patrol, clear, maintain and mark the 33 miles of hiking trails in Lancaster County's parks, as well as care for damaged or dead trees.

Originally from South Africa, Muller grew up on a farm, one of the similarities he loves about Lancaster County.

"It's a great area," Muller said of Lancaster County. "I love it here. There is lots of farmland. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else."

Muller said he came to the United States in 2000 and earned his certification as arborist.

It was about that time he met Kira Jakab, a Lancaster County native, whom he married in 2003.

The couple settled outside Willow Street when Muller was hired as county arborist.

But as to the Christmas tree custom, Muller has a confession: "For the past three years, we've had an artificial one."

"It makes it a little easier; there's less of a mess," Muller said. "But we could always go back to having a real one."

jkelley@lnpnews.com