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Grow your own Christmas tree outdoors for next year.

Have you ever questioned why we feel propelled to buy a Christmas tree, year after year, plonk it in a corner for a while, and then discard it once the festivities are over? Ok, so there are some acceptable reasons why we continue this tradition, for example if children are involved, then the tree becomes the centre of a joyous occasion. Young eyes, and quite a few old ones, light up during the decoration of the tree and the subsequent placing of brightly wrapped presents beneath it.

Down points.
But the traditional freshly cut tree also has loads of possible down points. To list just a few…

· Neglect the watering of your tree and it will turn your carpet into a forest floor with its fallen needles.

· A dry tree next to a fire source is a tinderbox waiting to be ignited.

· When next Christmas comes around, you will again have to buy a tree. More money spent and more vehicle emissions as you travel to collect your “green” tree.

· A Christmas tree laden with lights, baubles and tinsel is quite heavy and unsteady on its feet, almost as unsteady as that ever-present relative who after a few too many sherbets decides to rock around the Christmas tree. Possible outcome, your tree and your red-faced relative on the floor entangled in tinsel.

. The Korean fir, a suitable outdoor Christmas tree with wonderful decorative cones., photo / pic / image.

There is a solution to all these down points whilst retaining the fresh tree look, and that is to grow your own tree outdoors. This can be a tree of any size, which you can grow within your garden or in a pot on your balcony/terrace if you are an apartment dweller.

These trees will not dry out once established and can be decorated heavily with outdoor fairy lights without fear of toppling over. Your living tree will also add year round leaf colour to your garden whilst providing evergreen shelter for visiting birds.

You will of course have to give a bit of thought to the planting location of your Christmas tree. Don’t pick a tree that will out grow its allotted space, cutting out light, and growing into and on top of other nearby plantings. Please be aware that many Christmas style trees will drop a certain amount of their needles during their life, so they are best planted away from problem areas such as tarmac and gutters.

Possible trees.
Here are a few suitable Christmas style trees that you can plant out doors now…

· Abies koreana 'Silberlocke', the Korean fir sporting dark-green, silvery-grey needles with a maximum height of 4 metres (12ft).

· Abies procera, the Noble fir whose fragrant blue-green needles cover a tree that can grow up to 15 metres tall (45ft).

· Thuja occidentalis 'Smaragd', the white cedar whose bright-green frame rarely exceeds 2.5 metres (8ft) tall.

So as you can see with a bit of thought now, there is no reason to chop down a perfectly healthy tree each year, put it in your living room for a few weeks, then throw it out. You will quickly get used to having your Christmas tree outdoors and so will Santa, he will continue to deliver providing you’ve been nice.

Any comments, please post below.
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