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Care of Christmas
Trees
Members of the British Christmas Tree Growers
Association provide high quality Christmas Trees, and
their aim is to supply the customer with a tree that is
absolutely ideal for the centrepiece of the Christmas
celebrations.
Trees which are bought directly from members are grown
in accordance with the BCTGA environmental Code of
Practice and are guaranteed fresh. Provided care is
taken in looking after the tree the tree should survive
over 4 weeks. Trees should not be purchased earlier than
1st December if guaranteed satisfaction is demanded.
 Care
of the tree
It
is part of the life cycle of the conifer tree that it
sheds needles and they will accelerate that shedding
particularly if they dry out. Some trees do so more
quickly than others. The best way to ensure satisfaction
is to care for the tree while it is in your home. A tree
should be treated like any plant being brought into a
warm, dry atmosphere.
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Cut
Trees
It
is essential that cut trees should be fresh when
purchased. The needles should not be dull and dried up.
The branches should not be brittle. The outer needles
should not fall off if the tree is gently shaken.
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After you have bought your tree it should be kept
outside in a cool shaded place, preferably standing in
water, until it is required indoors. Before bringing the
tree indoors it is an advantage if about half an inch is
cut off the butt in order to open up the pores of the
tree. Mount it in a water-holding stand or wedge it in a
bucket with pebbles, small stones or screwed up
newspaper, and place it away from direct heat. Keep the
container topped up with water every day; you will be
surprised how much it needs.
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Trees
with bare roots
These are trees which have been extracted with their
roots. This is usually only possible with the smaller
trees. The small roots break off and no soil comes with
the larger root system. They should be freshly
harvested. It is best to soak the roots in water before
potting the tree in moist earth. The earth should be
kept moist. These trees will last longer if they are
kept away from direct heat when they are brought
indoors. There is a slight chance that these trees will
survive if planted out after Christmas. They should be
watered very well.
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Root-balled
trees
These are trees that have been carefully prepared so
that they can be dug up with minimal disturbance the
earth round the root system. Earth is retained by
wrapping the roots in sacking or similar material. The
roots should be kept damp and the trees, having had the
sacking removed, should be potted in moist earth. These
trees should remain fresh, retain their needles, and
have a reasonable chance of survival if planted out
after Christmas. Top
Container
grown trees
These are trees that have been grown for at least one
season in their pots. It is often possible to lift the
whole root system out of the pot and see the closely
woven root which has grown in the pot. The trees
themselves should look fresh. The trees will be small
and seldom more than three foot. The trees should be
watered and cared for as for any house plant.
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After Christmas they can either be planted out with a
very good chance of success or they can be left to grow
on in their pot, but it is much better in this case to
re-pot the tree in a larger pot. It is seldom possible
to re-pot trees in this way for more than one season
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