J’AIME DECEMBER 2021

Grow
your own
The Royal Horticultural Society offers some
expert advice for anyone looking to grow or
maintain a pot-grown tree to enjoy year after
year:
Christmas trees can be grown from seed
or cuttings - both semi-ripe and hardwood,
but are usually bought as full size trees for
displaying indoors.
To reduce stress and damage to living trees,
display them in a cool room.
Bring trees indoors as late as possible – the
weekend before Christmas is ideal.
Do not keep living trees in the house any
longer than 12 days, but be guided by the
tree. If it looks unhappy, put it back outside.
Either plant the tree out in the garden after
Christmas or, if you want to bring it indoors
again next year, grow it on in a container,
moving it into a bigger pot annually until you
reach the maximum size that can be moved
comfortably (about 45cm or 18in diameter
and depth). Soil-based John Innes No 2
potting media is ideal.
Christmas trees planted in pots will be limited
in their size by the constraints of the pot.
But if planted out in the garden, Christmas
trees can get very large, reaching a height
of about 15-20m (50-65ft) in 20 years, and
possible eventual heights of about 40m
(130ft). The smallest growing Christmas trees
are probably Fraser firs, which reach about
7m (23ft) after 20 years, attaining an eventual
height of about 20m (65ft), and Korean firs,
which reach 4m (13ft) in 20 years and an
eventual height of 10m (33ft).
Remember to ask your supplier where the
trees come from, and to choose a locally
sourced and grown tree, or one that has
at least been grown in the UK rather than
abroad.
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