Living Christmas Trees Bradford
A Living Christmas Tree is a Tree for Life!
A Living Christmas Tree is a Tree for Life
Here's a simple way to green up your Christmas!
Buy a real living Christmas tree - roots and all.Pot your Christmas tree up carefully, keep it in your home for 10 to 15 days and then plant it out in your garden for a year or two before bringing it in for another bit of festive cheer!
Read on for how to select real Xmas trees - and how to care for them so that they will stand a chance of making an appearance in years to come!
Here's what to look for in a living Christmas tree
It's important to buy a tree which has a good, well-developed root ball. Most pot grown trees, provided they have been looked after, should be fine in this respect - at least if you buy from a reputable grower. (You could up-end a relatively small tree to check the condition of the roots.)Ideally, look for an tree because the environmental costs of growing organically are far more sustainable.
Don't buy a living Christmas tree which has been stored inside a heated garden centre as it is less likely to keep in good condition indoors for any length of time.
Make sure that the needles are in good condition and are not already starting to drop in any quantity. Avoid Christmas trees with bare patches or poorly distributed branches. Buy a Christmas tree which looks bright and lively.
There are several varieties of tree which may provide a beautiful living Christmas tree. Douglas Fir and Norway Spruce both do well as living Christmas trees.
If you are looking for an excuse to buy something exotic for your garden and think that it could double up as a living Christmas tree, be careful to check that it is hardy enough to withstand temperature changes.
I used a small Thuja one year which didn't hold ornaments particularly well, but it looked nice and did very well in the garden afterwards. My children were too young to know the difference, at the time!
Here's how to keep your Christmas tree alive
If your new Christmas tree is in its own pot, then you need only make sure that it is well watered and that there is enough potting mix in the tub. If you have time and space, put it in a cool out-house for two or three days to bridge the gap between the chilly outside world and the warmth inside your home. This applies to the time before Christmas and after Christmas when you are getting ready to return it to the garden.
Bare-rooted trees
If you buy a Xmas tree with bare roots you will need to pot it up straight away. Make sure that the pot you choose is ample and has good drainage holes. Fill the bottom of the pot with a few old crocks to help excess water to drain away. Place the tree in the pot, tucking in any stray rootlets and carefully fill it with a good quality potting mixture. Tamp down the compost until the roots are securely supported and in contact with the soil.
Water your living Christmas tree immediately and copiously and let it drain freely. Check that the tree is well bedded into...
