Seasonal & Sustainable
The holiday season is here! Holiday music on the radio and holiday movies on the television beckon us to begin decorating our homes. Soon, Christmas trees of many shapes, species and sizes will find their way into homes to be decorated and admired.
This year, with smaller family gatherings and stronger investments in our landscapes, consider purchasing and planting a live Christmas tree.
A living Christmas tree is represented as either an evergreen tree with roots that are container grown or a dug tree with intact roots (balled and burlapped). This type of tree is planted outdoors after the holiday season.
Purchasing and planting a living tree requires some planning and preparation. Follow these steps to successfully enjoy your tree for the holidays, then plant and enjoy it into the future.
Prior to purchasing your live tree, select the exact location where the tree will be planted.Consider that most species of evergreens sold as “Christmas” trees are pine, fir or spruce that can grow to 50 feet tall and 20 feet wide. Provide enough space for a mature tree that is not planted too close to a building, electrical lines or other trees.Choose a tree species that is adapted to your location and planting zone (Butler is USDA Zones 6A and 5B). Make the purchase from a reliable nursery. Select a tree size appropriate for the room in which it will be decorated.Choose a tree with a moist soil ball. Trees with frozen soil in a container or ball are more likely to die over the winter than those in unfrozen soil.Consider purchasing a smaller tree, because a smaller tree will be easier to transition from outdoors to indoors and back out.Although the tree will be dormant when you bring it home, keep it in an unheated garage to allow it to acclimate for a few days before bringing it indoors to decorate.Dig the hole before the ground begins to freeze. The root ball on a living Christmas tree could be as large as 24 inches. A hole of at least 36 inches wide and 15 inches deep would be large enough to accommodate the root ball and still provide room for spring root growth.If the area is open and exposed to windy conditions, add support stakes before the soil freezes so you can properly stake the tree when it is planted.Store the soil removed from the hole in an area where it will not freeze (garage, storage shed, etc.). Fill the hole with straw, mulch or loose leaves and cover the hole with planks or fence off the area to prevent someone from falling into the hole.Add straw, mulch, or loose leaves out to several feet from the hole and to a depth of 4-6 inches to prevent the soil from freezing.Living Christmas trees should spend as little time indoors as possible.Expect to keep your tree indoors for a maximum of two weeks or it will have difficulty transitioning back to outdoor conditions.When bringing balled and burlapped trees indoors, place them in a large waterproof container. Place your tree in a draft-free location away from heaters and vents. Monitor the moisture level of the soil and make sure it stays moist.
When you are ready to move your tree outdoors, place it back in the garage for several days to acclimate again before planting it outdoors. Continue to keep the soil moist.After the holidays, wait until outdoor temperatures are in the 30-degree Fahrenheit range, then plant the tree.Remove the mulch from the hole and the burlap or container from the tree. Measure the depth of the hole to determine if more soil needs to be removed to keep the top of the root ball at or slightly above the surrounding soil level.Place the tree in the hole and backfill with the saved soil then cover the area with 4-6 inches of mulch out to several feet beyond the hole.Water the tree thoroughly. You do not need to fertilize the tree at this time.In the spring, water the tree as soon as temperatures begin to warm and the ground thaws. Maintaining adequate moisture levels in the soil during the first growing season is important to survival. You can also fertilize the tree in the spring.Alternatively, you can hold your tree in an unheated garage, shed or other protected area and then plant it in the spring. Make sure to periodically check the moisture levels and water the tree as needed.You now have a beautiful addition to your landscape and a memory tree of 2020. This joyful addition will offer holiday beauty, a sustainable enhancement to your property and a place for food and shelter for birds and wildlife for many years to come.To learn more about Christmas trees and Christmas tree production, visit Penn State Extension at https://extension.psu.edu/trees-lawns-and-landscaping/christmas-trees.Mary Alice Koeneke is a Penn State Master Gardener of Butler County.
