Potted Christmas trees are a great way to create a new tradition. However, there are steps to keep in mind to make sure you’re tree successfully makes it outdoors after the holiday.
Most people who celebrate Christmas get a tree in one of three ways: chopping it down, buying one at a tree lot or buying a fake tree. However, there is an alternative. Potted trees offer a unique way to celebrate the holiday and you get to enjoy a tree for years to come.
Living Christmas trees allow people to celebrate the holiday with a live tree, which can then be moved outside and planted in the ground. The added benefit includes a long-standing pine tree added to your property. Before you make this your holiday tradition, there are some steps to keep in mind to ensure your potted tree survives to become a forever tree.
Choosing and caring for a potted tree
“So if you’re planning a live Christmas tree, you’re going to be buying a potted tree from a nursery. Or if you know someone with private land that doesn’t mind you digging up a tree, I suppose you could go that route, but that would take a lot of planning and coordination,” said John Murgel, a horticulture specialist with the CSU Extension. “I think buying a tree would be easier.”
Murgel says people who choose potted trees have a range of trees to pick from, but not all trees are created equal. For instance, spruce trees, like the popular Colorado blue spruce, can lose their needles quickly.
According to the CSU Extension, other popular tree options include ponderosa, pinyon, Austrian, bristlecone, Scotch pine, white fir, Douglas fir and dwarf Alberta Spruce. Each has its own fragrance, making some options more popular than others.
Trees are generally sold between two and six feet tall, so be sure to keep your space in mind when shopping for a tree. Other than that, it can be a fairly straightforward process.
“These are the same trees that you would be purchasing for planting in the landscape,” said Murgel. “That’s really what they’re for. You’re simply taking advantage of their portability to use it as a Christmas tree during the holiday season.”
One change from cut trees or fake trees is potted trees should only be kept indoors for a small window. Horticulture officials suggest only seven to ten days. Any longer, and the trees may lose some hardiness as they adjust to the warmer indoor temperatures. The hardiness is a necessity once it goes back outdoors in the Colorado winter. In the meantime, the tree should be kept in a cooler spot of the house, or at least away from any vents that may be blowing out hot air.
The next important task is keeping the tree moist. A potted tree comes with a root ball, which can be quite large depending on the size of the tree. This cluster of dirt and roots must stay wet.
“These potted trees, once they are moving water through their bodies, take a lot of water,” said Murgel. “It could be like a quart a day. I’ve even seen some folks claim up to a gallon a day of water depending on the size of the tree. But you got to be making sure that you’re filling the tree stand or watering the pot with potted Christmas trees.”
The root ball should be quite heavy if it’s wet enough. Murgel recommends checking by trying to lift the tree. If it’s too light, the tree is probably in need of more water. Other options include simply sticking your finger in the pot to check how dry it is, or purchasing a soil moisture probe.
Overwatering is something to consider. However, most nursery containers drain, so this should stop the root ball from becoming overly saturated.
Moving the tree outside and successfully planting it
Eventually, the holiday comes to an end and it’s time to relocate the tree outdoors.
“The first consideration is … you need to reacclimate that tree to cold temperatures,” said Murgel. “This is going to take some time, and what it means is gradually exposing that tree to colder temperatures, essentially making that tree believe, if you will, that it’s just experienced the shortest growing season of all time, and it’s fall again, and it’s time to go back to sleep.”
To properly allow the tree time to acclimate to the winter temperatures, you can start by putting the tree in a garage or unheated shed. Another option is putting the tree outside during the day, so there is time for it to get used to the temperatures, but bringing it back in at night to avoid drops below freezing. Finally, find a good stretch of days where the temperature only drops to the high 20s or low 30s at night.
Eventually, the tree will naturally prepare itself for the temperatures and you can prepare to plant the tree in a yard.
Once you have an area selected, you’ll need to dig a hole about two to three times the diameter of the root ball. CSU officials suggest digging a hole ahead of time on a warmer day to make it easier to dig through the ground, as icy temperatures can make soil harder to dig through.https://www.youtube.com/embed/8d2xmJmlN2Q?enablejsapi=1
The hole should be as deep as the root ball, but not deeper. If there is twine or burlap around the root ball, be sure to remove it as much as possible before placing it in the ground. Place the root ball on solid ground, to avoid settling and then backfill the hole with the soil.
After that, you’ll want to remember to still water the tree, even in the dormant season. Newly planted dormant trees should still be watered monthly. CSU officials suggest watering it slowly and deeply.
Winter can be a challenging time to plant new trees, but if it lives, it will continue to grow along with the special memory it holds.
Murgel says while this can be a great tradition, be aware of how much room you have in your yard.
“If you like this idea and are saying to yourself, I’m going to do that every year so that eventually you’re going to run out of space, because these trees at mature size are going to be large, and most residential yards already have landscaping,” says Murgel. “And so if you’re planning to plant essentially a conifer a year, for the next couple of decades, you could be starting your own local Christmas tree farm, sort of by accident.”
