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The Garden Plot for December 14, 2007
3:55 PM - 4:00 PM
[Program Website]
Today's Highlight: “Christmas Tree 1”
A living Christmas tree, that can be planted outdoors later, appeals to our multi-tasking side. Unfortunately, though it sounds like a great idea, living trees often have a difficult time adjusting to the cozy, indoor life. A living Christmas tree is alive and has an active root system. So, in a heated house the tree wakes up from the winter rest period it needs to survive winter. Then, thirsty needles that begin losing water to hot, dry indoor rooms start to demand water from their roots. Living Christmas trees will need to be watered to prevent these active roots from drying out. The best plan is to keep living Christmas trees in as cool a room as possible, away from hot or cold drafts. Further, a living tree should not be kept indoors for much longer than one to two weeks. Exposure of more than one to two weeks to indoor temperatures might cause your tree’s buds to break and produce new growth that would be killed when the tree is moved outdoors.
Once the lights and Christmas decorations have come off the living tree, don’t try to plant the tree immediately outdoors. Even if you could dig a hole into frozen ground big enough for the tree, soil temperatures will be too cold for roots to develop. Evergreen trees need established roots to take up water lost when needles are exposed to Chinook-warm, sunny days and drying winter winds. Immediate exposure to cold, dry conditions, after being indoors, could cause needles to burn, turn color, and drop. So, let the tree transfer from house temperatures (hopefully, the tree will be kept in a cool room while indoors) to a sheltered garage for a few weeks. Insulate the tree’s roots with straw or sawdust mulch. If you have the room, a live Christmas tree could remain in a cool garage for the rest of the winter. Or, you can “heal the tree in” outdoors. This means storing the tree temporarily. To heal-in your live Christmas tree, bury it on its side in a pile of sawdust. You can also lay the tree on its side and cover the pot and several feet up the main trunk with clean hay, straw, or other mulch. Make sure the mulch around the root container is at least 10” deep. Roots and the area of trunk just at the soil surface are
the tree parts most susceptible to cold injury.
As soon as the soil can be worked in the spring, uncover the tree and plant. Dig the hole wider than root system of the tree. The hole should be 8 -12 inches wider than the root system. The sides of the hole should be sloped rather than vertical. In other words, the hole should be shaped more like a bowl than a glass. Set the tree so that the trunk flare is slightly higher than the surrounding soil. Fill the hole with the original soil you dug out of it. Fill half of the hole, and then settle the soil around the tree’s roots with 2-3 gallons of water. You can mix a low pH compost into the top 6” of soil. Low pH compost usually contains up to 50% composted wood bark plus a nitrogen source. Manures tend to raise soil pH, so don’t use them unless they are mixed with composted wood bark. Then add another 2-3 gallons of water and mulch the soil surface around the tree with 3-4” of low pH compost, starting 12 “ from the truck and extending out beyond the hole.
If spring seems too far away to remember tree planting instructions, don’t worry, we’ll cover this topic again next year when it’s time to plant trees.
Helen Atthowe's new short program of gardening tips
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