Christmas Trees – digging your own

Recently some UK Christmas Tree plantations have begun to allow you to choose and cut, or dig up, your own tree, as has been the case for many years in Scandinavia and Germany. There are many advantages to this - the tree will be at its freshest and will last longer once you get it home, assuming you keep it in a fairly cool place, in addition, it is an environmentally friendly process as you can pot up the tree, or plant it out in the garden, and re-use it.

Trees to plant outdoors

1. Abies koreana - grows to forty feet and is therefore more suitable for the smaller garden.
2. Abies procera - silvery-blue, fragrant tips, smooth, grey bark, and good needle retention.
3. Abies fraseri - soft needles and strong boughs that are ideal for supporting heavy ornaments.

If you want to plant your rooted tree outdoors at the end of the festive season, so that you can re-use it the following year

When you bring it indoors, plant in wet sand or peat-free compost and water with one or two litres of water a day.

1. Before planting outside again, acclimatise the tree to being outdoors again for a month - start off with the tree in a sheltered area with some natural light - a porch, conservatory or garage and gradually move the tree down the garden to a more exposed area.
2. Dig a square hole, one spade deep. Cultivate the soil with mulch or compost, paying attention to creating good drainage.
3. Fill the hole and plant the tree on the resulting mound, making sure that the root collar is at ground level, not below - this will improve the tree's chances of survival.
4. Keep an area up to 1 metre around the tree completely weed free.
5. If you are intending to re-use your Christmas tree, it's better to keep it in a container - a half-barrel is suitable, as the size will be more manageable. Keep the container on a trolley so it can be moved easily. When you bring the tree indoors next year, beware of insects emerging due to central heating - and always pay attention to watering.

Cut Christmas Tree photograph by wyklos, used under a creative commons attribution licence.

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