Did you pick out a live evergreen tree to decorate for Christmas this year? If you did, we’ve got some important tips for planting your tree after the holiday is over that you’ll want to bookmark and share.
Choosing a live tree has become a perennially popular choice for anyone interested in keeping the celebrations “green” and environmentally friendly. The practice saves money and reduces waste headed to landfills in January. Use the following tips to plan ahead for the post-Christmas planting season, or share them with anyone who might want to start a new tree tradition next year!
Choose your tree based on size and shape. You’ll want something that will fit in your home during the holiday and blend in nicely with your outdoor landscape when it’s planted.
Take care of your tree during holiday celebrations. Don’t forget to water the roots, which usually come wrapped in burlap. Add enough water to keep the fabric damp. Choose tree lights that don’t give off too much heat and ornaments that won’t damage the needles.
Remember that timing is everything! Leave yourself enough room in your busy holiday schedule to dig the hole for the tree outside well before Christmas to avoid the hassle of breaking frozen ground. (Store the dirt in the garage or someplace it won’t freeze later.)
It’s also important to minimize the amount of time your tree will spend inside a warm house. Living evergreens will suffer if exposed to extreme transitions in the temperature, so try to place the tree in the coolest spot in the house whenever possible.
After the celebrations are over, you’ll want to give the tree a transitional period of about two weeks to acclimate to a cooler temperature before going out into the ground (and freezing conditions). Instead, store the tree in an unheated structure – a garage is ideal for this – to make the adjustment.
When you finally do move the tree to its new home, remove the burlap and plant the tree with the top of the roots just level with the ground, or even slightly above. Water it well and cover the ground with about three inches of mulch. Don’t place the mulch up against the trunk, though, which can sicken your tree and attract nesting rodents.
Once you’ve completed the cycle, you’ll find that you’ve given yourself a gift that will keep on giving back year after year! You can decorate your live tree outdoors next year, or just be proud of the beauty it will add to your yard all year long.