Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. All the way to the most awaited time of the year, which is here at last! And one of the most essential parts of it, our beloved Christmas trees, have always been the showstoppers down memory lane — especially when they’re kept in fabulous shape and brimming with ribbons and lights.
How to Take Proper Care of Your Christmas Tree
- These supermodel trees are great attention seekers. You should choose one that suits your environment type and climate. Also, if you’re a busy elf, go for a tree that requires the amount of care and attention you can dedicate to it.
- Strive the hardest for a vigorous-looking sapling (or a freshly cut tree if that’s more your thing) because the ones available at the nurseries are often ill cared or chopped way before we can imagine.
- If you want to replant your tree but can’t right now, you may sit it in water for 3-4 days and then put it in its owed spot.
- Trees are fond of the warmth of the sun, so they don’t appreciate being indoors for too long — where the air is artificially heated and drier — especially in Winters when it’s so gloomy throughout the short length of each day.
- The ground doesn’t need much prepping up. What you want is a good spot with good soil that isn’t too clayey. A well-drained terrain or potting mix will be perfect for your tree.
- Do take care of the way you plant the tree. It should sit at the same depth at which it was in the nursery pot, to avoid leaving roots exposed or spoiling the young trunk by choking it with damp soil.
- Allow the seedling to be started in a pot, especially if you aim to have your tree stay indoors. Transplanting will be easy to perform during Spring.
Now that you know the basics of Christmas tree planting and maintenance, let’s see which kinds of trees you’d rather be choosing according to your requirements, the climate you live in and your house’s ambient conditions.
Pine
These are the most common, whether you live in the Meditteranean or deeper within the continent. Pines can withstand a wide array of weathers. It’s as if the harsher it gets, the more they like it, or at least because they survive where many other species do not, that really makes them stand out.
Their foliage is coarse, thin and straight like you’re used to seeing and their bark quite smooth until they age. But by the time they do, you cannot have them inside your living room anymore.
Be sure to water them as necessary if their pot is tiny for their roots and the air too warm and dry. Now, if you choose to get a pine tree that’s cut and slowly dying, then these cares aren’t necessary, of course, but that alternative isn’t the one we’re discussing now — we want the trees to live!
Fir
Being firs the most Christmas-y of all the 5 kinds on this list, they’re a very good choice for all of you who want the most perfect replica of that almighty and big Christmas tree you imagine owning in your dreams.
With branches covered in needly leaves that can reproduce a lot of different hues of green, they present a conical shape that dampens from bottom to top, so that you have that perfect stand high above, against which to put the golden star.
Another upside to firs is that the configuration you see when they’re baby trees is pretty much what you’ll continue to have, whereas some other species show very different formats depending on if they’re saplings, juveniles, adults or elders already.
Cypress
Cypresses’ foliage is gentler, more boney and good looking in terms of color and shape, which are almost like that of ferns. The fruits are those round-shaped wooded pods that can sometimes be thrown around once they ripen.
They’re also fragrant enough to be sensed all over your room, sparing you from using aromatic tealights.
Since these trees are more compact and can almost pass as shrubs, they’re a fine addition to any lonely corner, be it in your living room or the wintery outdoor garden. Their height is another good compliment, for they’re capable of soaring as high as 20-30 metres outside, if only you do their transplanting timely and to the right spot.
Spruce
If you wish to have trees that look like they came right out of a Bob Ross painting, then spruces are quite the choice to be made. Some are even whitish, silvery or glaucous, which makes them look stunning under any Christmas light.
Their branches and leaves have a slightly droopy, thicker aspect that has them appear to be sturdier and not so home-friendly, but everything can be adapted to fit indoor conditions for a couple of months.
Really, the challenge of many Christmas tree owners is that many times, for these plants to even survive the holiday, it can be a struggle to make that dream come true.
Sad fates come to anyone but if you try to position your spruce tree right next to a big window that catches the most brightness — or keep the lights on to give it the glow it needs — you’ll be good raising this tiny one up to becoming huge as those on the happy man’s paintings.
Cedar
For last we take a look at the cedars, as they’re another variant of holiday tree that you can very well cover with foils, tinsel, lights, tiny pendants and also your undivided attention because it’ll undoubtedly look stunning.
They’re pretty ornamental tiny trees to be kept in the smallest of vases, for a start, but soon and if given the root space, nutrients and enough sun, they’re supposed to overgrow their containers without even justifying themselves.
Be gentle on their bristly twigs that are thin and will bend and break easily if you put much weight on them, though you can always find a way around it and manage to group several branches together to come up with a stronger base for your shiny tree accessories.
So get ready and make the preparations because this season always seems to call for us to make an early entrance into the cozy familiar mood.
