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Photo by : Robert Nunnally .
Q : I’ve always felt a little shamefaced about the way evergreens are cut down for Christmas , then tossed off a few calendar week later . This year I want to buy a unrecorded Christmas tree and plant it in my pace after the holidays . What ’s the estimable style to care for these trees?—Gail Madden , Mount Lebanon , Pa.
A : The urge to spare a Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is firm , but buying a live Christmas tree will in all probability bend you into a grinch — and it wo n’t do much to help the environs , either . concord to Christmas tree diagram farmers , only about half these trees go the holidays . Sheltering a hot tree indoors poses several challenge : A 6 - foot Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree should have about a 24 - column inch antecedent ballock and will weigh about 250 pound ; you must be vigilant about lachrymation because trees dry out apace indoors . Time is definitely not on your side — after 10 days , you should get it back outside and in the ground . That ’s a brusque life for a Christmas tree , and special stress for you just to plant an evergreen . Also , unless your property is quite large , you ’ll run out of place in a few years , as eventually , all the democratic Christmas trees become huge .
I recommend buying a Christmas tree diagram from a local Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree farm — it ’s more convenient and ecologically sound . snub farm - grow Christmas trees is no unfit for the surroundings than harvest a subject of Brassica oleracea italica . It ’s actually better because these evergreens persist in the dry land for 8 to 10 years , during which time there ’s unremarkably no cultivation and thus , less grunge eating away . instead , you could rise your own trees to abridge . Evergreen seedlingsare cheap and take about 8 years to reach harvest size . They ask little tutelage beyond mulching , irrigation , and pruning in midsummer for a more compact shape .
If you ’re set on a live tree , there are a few tips to improve its post holiday prospects : Dig a yap now , before the ground freeze down solid , take a shit it a few inches wider but the same depth as the root clod ( the plant tree should rest at solid ground level ) . Fill the hole with wry parting or other mulch , and cover the dirt for backfilling so it wo n’t freeze before you ’re quick to plant .
A tree from a local grower stand a much good chance at success . tree diagram send long distances often have smaller source lump to make merchant marine easy , but small beginning ball lower the natural selection rate . countenance the tree acclimate to fond indoor conditions by resting it in the garage for two or three days , and do this again on its trip back outdoors . Set the tree diagram in a tub big enough for you to irrigate it well without fear of make a mess . Water it a small every mean solar day , but do n’t lease the root globe point of view in water system . Be true to your original role : When its 10 day of indoor obligation have passed , part your Tannenbaum on its way back outside to your garden .
