Dreaming of a green holiday? Consider a living tree
Photo by Flickr user John Abell
Dreaming of a green Christmas?
If you've ever felt guilty about cutting down a tree only to have it for a few weeks and then throw the whole thing away, you may want to consider a living tree, which comes with its roots intact. After decorating it for the holidays, you can plant it in your backyard.
Most potted Christmas trees are three feet tall or less, plus about a foot for the pot itself. Caring for a potted tree through the winter is a little bit tricky, but if you carefully follow the nursery's instructions, you may be able to enjoy it for years to come.
Jane Riddle from Lodi Farms recommended an "easy in, easy out" strategy to help the tree adapt from the cold temperatures outside to a warm home. Lodi Farms suggests the following plan:
- Warm up the tree gently in the garage for several days, and then keep it inside the house for less than a week.
- Water often and keep the tree cool, away from heating vents that may stress the plant.
- When the holidays are over, move the potted tree back to the garage for at least a week.
- Find a protected spot outside to keep the tree, away from harsh sun or wind. Mulch it and keep it protected.
- You can plant the tree as soon as you like, carefully following the nursery's planting instructions.
You can purchase a potted tree at the following nurseries in the Ann Arbor area:
Lodi Farms
2880 S. Wagner Road, at the corner of Wagner and Waters Roads
734-665-5651
Lodi Farms carries Colorado, White and Norway Spruce in three-gallon, five-gallon and seven-gallon pots.
Prices range from $25-$60.
Plymouth Nursery
9900 Plymouth-Ann Arbor Road in Plymouth
734-453-5500
Plymouth Nursery carries Dwarf Alberta, Blue, Norway and Hoopsi Blue Spruce as well as Bosnian Pine in pots.
Prices range from a two-foot Dwarf Alberta for $24.99 to a four-foot Norway Spruce for $99.
Produce Station
1629 S. State St. in Ann Arbor
734-663-7848
Produce Station carries a variety of species, from table top Arborvitaes to three- to four-foot traditionals. The larger trees are $55.
Have you ever tried a living Christmas tree? How did it work out for you?
Pam Stout coordinates Faith and Home & Garden coverage for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at pamstout@annarbor.com.
Comments
Jim and Janice Leach
Fri, Dec 10, 2010 : 1:18 p.m.
We had a successful experiment with a living Christmas tree once. We carefully followed the advice from the nursery and acclimated the tree to the indoors and then back to the outdoors again. We used the garage as one of the in-between places and paid attention to keeping the tree well watered. As Nicola suggests, we dug the hole for planting before the ground froze, which was wise. One mistake we made, though, was not thinking far ahead about how big the tree would grow. It turned out that that wasn't the best spot for a huge pine!
smarte17
Fri, Dec 10, 2010 : 10:50 a.m.
Oops...due to changing weather.
smarte17
Fri, Dec 10, 2010 : 10:47 a.m.
I agree with Nicola's method. Dig a hole in the ground before it freezes and just fill it with mulch. After introducing the tree back to the cold once Christmas is over, you can just put the pot right into the ground. Then cover with the mulch from the hole. The roots have a better shot below ground than above, since there is less freezing and thawing do to changing weather.
Duane Collicott
Thu, Dec 9, 2010 : 10:43 p.m.
I'll never feel guilty about cutting down a tree for Christmas. I planted thousands of them over the past ten years.
Nicola Rooney
Thu, Dec 9, 2010 : 10:36 p.m.
We have only ever bought living trees, and have had some success with planting out, mostly when we had planned ahead and dug a spot in the back yard ready to receive the tree right after Christmas. Dehydration is the enemy, and trying to keep the tree alive in the pot until spring is a challenge. Planting in a sheltered spot, and mulching very well have helped.
Sarah Rigg
Thu, Dec 9, 2010 : 5:18 p.m.
Yes, we've been doing this every year for the last 10 years or so. We've killed all but 2 trees, mostly, I believe, through lack of watering. But we love the two that survived and now are part of the landscaping in our yard. I second the advice about slowly moving them from cold to warm and vice versa - this did seem to help a lot with the two trees we had that did survive. For people in Ypsilanti and other parts of eastern Washtenaw County, I want to put in a plug for considering nurseries just over the Wayne county border in the Belleville area (Pinter's, Banotai, Garden Fantasy, etc.). I know both Pinter's and Garden Fantasy carry smaller living christmas trees.