January’s Recipe of the Month: Grow a Christmas Tree

With the Holidays over and a new year beginning, the last thing you’re probably thinking about is next year’s Christmas tree. Well, you should! In the great tree debate between cut and artificial Christmas trees, the clear winner is potted, living trees that can be replanted in your yard or a community garden for a lifetime of providing oxygen, shade and a habitat for lots of critters. Consider potting a tree now for use next Christmas or even a few Christmases down the line if bigger is better to you. Don’t celebrate Christmas? We bet you know someone who does, and a homegrown potted tree would make an excellent gift next Holiday season. To grow your own tree, follow these simple instructions:

1. Decide when you want to use your homegrown Christmas tree.
If you want to use it next year or within the next five or ten years, you’ll need to hit a local nursery or garden store. The trained experts at your local store will be able to help you purchase a potted tree (roots still in tact, obviously) that will coexist peacefully in your climate. If you have ten or more years to watch a Christmas Tree grow, you may as well start from scratch. We love this Yule Tree-To-Be kit, but you could easily plant your own potted tree from a sapling purchased at a tree farm or at a nursery or garden store. While you’re shopping, be sure to ask the gardening folks to recommend the best soil for growing that particular species of tree in a container and buy a bag.

2. Soak the roots.
Whether using a wee little sapling or a tree with a few rings around its trunk, you’ll want to loosen the roots before planting. To do this, free the roots from any kind of wrapping (burlap, plastic, etc.). Soak the tree roots in a bucket of water for a few hours.

3. Choose a container.
If you’ve purchased a potted tree from a garden store, you probably don’t need to re-pot it, but if you’re starting your potted tree project from a sapling, make sure you choose a container big enough for the root system of the tree. The container should also have a good drainage system. This means you’ll want several drainage holes at the bottom of the container, To keep in soil, place a layer of mesh at the bottom of the container. Pour 1-2 inches of gravel into the bottom of the pot or container to help with drainage before adding soil.

4. Add soil and tree.
Using the store-bought soil recommended to you by the experts, gently fill in your container by loosely packing in the soil as you pour it in. Add enough soil so that when you set the bottom of the root ball down into the container, the roots have about 5 inches of soil beneath them. Continue to add soil, watering as you do so (to prevent air pockets) until the entire root ball is covered.

5. Fertilize!
Add a non-toxic, organic fertilizer to soil. We love the tree spikes from Terracycle.

6. Love and nurture your tree.
The last step is simple: love and nurture your potted tree. Keep it watered, but don’t overwater it. Keep the tree slightly elevated off the ground for proper drainage. Keep the tree outside (potted Christmas trees don’t do well if kept indoors for more than a week). If the weather conditions where you live are particularly harsh in winter, pull the potted tree into the garage or a shed for protection.

Depending on the age and species of tree you’ve chosen to pot and grow, you could be decorating or gifting your Christmas tree next year! Regardless of how you feel about Christmas or the old real vs. fake debate, planting a new tree is never wrong. While you’re earning a green thumb, that tree is sucking up CO2 and pumping out oxygen. Start the new year off right with a new tree right in your very own back yard.