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Better know what the tree looks like as it grows bigger!!!
You're right! It is best if they are not planted too close to the house. Both can get very tall and the pine needles and pine cones can clog gutters or just be hard to clean up. Even parking cars under their branches is not wise because of the sap or damage the cones could do. If you do plant too close and you decide it is not a great idea, after they get tall, then it can cost a lot of money to have one removed and the branches chipped. They are great to plant; but I would try to keep them at least 100' from the house so it will not cause problems. I do know that many plant much closer.
I have been busy cleaning up large white pines that were only 20' to 50' away from our house. I cut some down and I paid to have the most dangerous ones cut down (although I am doing the cleanup to save money). All could have hit our house if they fell in the wrong direction. They were a good 60' tall and still growing. It is a lot of work cleaning up large trees like this and it is hard to find people that will take the pine wood (even if you offer it for free).
We have a live Christmas tree we bought 25 years ago we planted outside. It is now 35’+ tall. It is not a Spruce, I think it is a hemlock? Anyway, here in the PNW, the climate is optimum for evergreens.
If you have the land for it, i mean ample space for an evergreen, buy one. They will beautify your yard. If you dont and still want ine, maybe a local park might take it?
Has anyone done this? Am wondering if it's hard to get the tree to grow after Christmas, since the ground is cold (not frozen) but maybe lack of sun would be bad. And what kind ? TIA
I've done this. Every year Home Depot sells evergreen trees in red pots for the holiday season. After Christmas, they mark them down 50%. I have several trees in the yard from these sales. Good bargain. If the ground is frozen, I keep them outside in pots above ground until the ground is soft. If the ground is not frozen, they are planted immediately. I haven't lost a single one. They are all doing well... oriental spruce, Bosnian pine, Anna white pine.
Yes I have done it, digging and preparing and covering the hole in October at the latest. Fill it with leaves and or mulch. then after Christmas move it to the hole and fill in around it.
Has anyone done this? Am wondering if it's hard to get the tree to grow after Christmas, since the ground is cold (not frozen) but maybe lack of sun would be bad. And what kind ? TIA
When I was a kid, my parents did just that. They bought a pine of some sort, and elevated it on a table, maybe? and we trimmed it, Memory is hazy. But my dad had to plant it out right after Christmas. That tree grew quite tall over the years. You would have to live where the ground is not frozen at the end of the year, fir this to work.
Honestly, why not simply plant the tree in early Fall or Spring? I do not get why you would buy a Christmas tree to plant later. Christmas trees are farmed. They are a consumable product which can be turned into mulch after Christmas.
Has anyone done this? Am wondering if it's hard to get the tree to grow after Christmas, since the ground is cold (not frozen) but maybe lack of sun would be bad. And what kind ? TIA
When I was a kid and living in Pennsylvania, did this every year. A few of the trees grew to like 20 feet tall over the years.
Sure, we’ve done it and as long as you can dig the hole, the tree will be fine. If you are worried about the ground being frozen, dig the hole now. It will just remain dormant until spring.
I live in zone 8 now, and I wish I could grow pine and spruce here, but it’s too hot.
My grandmother did this with some small Norway spruces one year when I was a kid
That was back in 1980 and they were cute little 2 feet tall trees. Last time I drove back there to see the house, those cute little trees had turned into gigantic 70 feet tall ones.
We also have done it with blue spruce though haven't grown any monsters yet, lol.
I would love to do a living tree here but we are renting so definitely when we buy a place and it's going to be a Norway spruce for sure. They seem to absolutely love the snow belt region.
Douglas firs are the most common species used for both Christmas trees and for lumber. Ideally, to have a living tree that would be planted after the holidays, it would have been planted from seed, in a large, deep pot. There are very durable, brick-colored plastic pots that are available. Another good type of pot for this, is made from compressed peat, which will dissolve when put in the ground and cause no damage to the roots. I have a 3-foot tall Douglas fir growing in such a peat pot, which will be planted in late February.
It is important to not leave conifers in pots too long, as they will become root-bound. Their long tap roots will be compromised and never go as deep as they should, for their entire lifetimes. If a tree with stunted roots becomes large, it will be more at risk of being uprooted during windstorms and will suffer during drought periods, when the water table drops below the reach of its roots. Sometimes, a tiny seedling, about 6 inches tall, growing in the ground, will already have a tap root going down 4 feet or more.
Trees that are planted in rows in large fields, may have much of their roots cut away, when they are dug up and put in pots for sale at garden shops. Look for young trees you know were planted in the same pots in which you buy them, to get ones that will have the best root systems when they become large.
never done it but may try it this year...
my son and I would eyeball good looking xmas trees while we were hunting nearby then go cut one down.a month later ..and drag it out
my old xmas trees made excellent tinder for the spring bonfire after picking up the debris on the lawn thru the winter
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