Time To Think About (Christmas) Trees

As December draws on it and we get nearer to Christmas, it becomes time to make a few festive arboricultural decisions: what type of Christmas tree do we get?  Artificial or real?  Live or cut?  What species is best for us?  Here are a few basics that might help you make up your mind.

The main types of trees to choose from are either: Fir (Abies); Spruce (Picea); or Pine (Pinus) each has their own particular characteristics and each one could be right for you, everyone seems to also have their own favourite too. As a rule of thumb, pick the best one for the most you can afford.

When you go and buy a tree look for a healthy looking specimen and go for the one that appeals to you best.

Try and buy a fresh cut tree, preferably from a local supplier or nursery that will cut it on site for you once you have chosen the tree you want. This will mean it will be as fresh as possible and will minimise needle loss. If you buy a pre cut tree from a road side or large nursery/large supplier or a cheap tree, you cannot guarantee when the tree was cut and therefore it could have been drying out for weeks, once it gets into a warm centrally heated house, it may lose its needles very quickly.

Why not go for a live tree? You may have to pre order one, but it will not drop its needles. Ensure you don’t put it too near a heat source and only keep it indoors for a couple of weeks. Make sure the root ball does not dry out, but equally do not over water it! You can put it outside in its pot and reuse for years. Pick a slow growing variety and re pot it if the root ball gets too big. Keep the tree itself well protected when outside.

Why not go for an artificial tree? It might not have the fragrance or character of a real tree, but environmentally it could be much less damaging. Even though it is probably made of plastic, it could last you for many years and means that each year you use it, one less tree is cut down and thrown away after a few weeks.

Once Christmas is over, what do you do with your tree? Many councils have recycling schemes for those of you who have gone for the non-reusable option, or you can cut it up and put it in your green waste recycling bin, you could pay for someone to take it away who hopefully will recycle it for you.

There is no simple solution to choosing the right Christmas tree, but whatever one you choose, enjoy it, enjoy Christmas and have a happy new year too.

Simon Zec
Treedom Tree Surgery
www.treedomsussex.co.uk

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