97.9 The Hill and Chapelboro.com have partnered with NC State Extension Master Gardener℠ volunteers of Orange County for “Playing in the Dirt,” a monthly column providing information and inspiration to gardeners of all skill levels! Check back on Chapelboro each month for a new subject – from our gardens to yours!
By Lynn Calder, Orange County Master Gardener℠ volunteer
Cut Fraser firs are popular trees for holding lights and ornaments. (Photo: Lynn Calder.)
Lights and decorations on the tree are the symbol of the holidays for many folks who enjoy cut, living, and artificial trees. Christmas trees are a significant agricultural resource for North Carolina, especially for our mountain region. The 5 million to 6 million trees harvested annually have an estimated retail value of $250 million. While more than a dozen species of Christmas trees are grown in North Carolina, 96% or more of production is the state’s native tree, Fraser fir.
Fraser firs growing in the NC mountains. (Photo: Jill Sidebottom, NCSU Extension.)
How Long Can You Leave Up a Cut Tree?
If you have a live cut tree in your home, you may be wondering how much longer it should stay up. Does it matter when it was cut? Not as much as you may think! The quality of care the tree received after it was cut is more important than when it was cut. As advised in this article about choosing a cut tree, “Christmas trees that were properly handled and kept in cold storage on the farm for weeks prior to shipment will retain their moisture and stay as fresh as when they were cut.” But even a recently cut tree will dry out if left in full sun or wind without water.
Your cut tree can stay fresh for a number of weeks if it was well-handled after harvest, you’ve kept the tree away from heat sources and sunny windows, and you’ve provided it plenty of fresh water. If it is no longer taking up water, you could try drilling a few holes in the trunk below the water line. Notice obvious signs of drying out: how stiff the needles are becoming and whether they’re shedding excessively.
A Christmas tree displayed in the shade and in water on the tree lot will stay fresh throughout the holiday season if properly cared for in your home. (Photo: NCSU Extension.)
What’s Next for Your Living Tree?
A living tree planted in your landscape can offer many years of enjoyment. Hopefully, you’ve chosen a species well-suited for our area of the state — the familiar Fraser firs need the higher elevations of western North Carolina to survive.
Christmas tree possibilities which are more suitable to the Piedmont of North Carolina are Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) (upper Piedmont sites or northern slopes of lower Piedmont); redcedar (Juniperus virginiana); arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis) (a good substitute for Leyland cypress); Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana); varieties of Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) such as ‘Blue Ice’ and ‘Carolina Sapphire’; and spruces such as white spruce (Picea glauca), blue spruce or Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens), and Norway spruce (Picea abies). See Christmas Tree Species and the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox for specific information about these species.
Balled and burlapped Fraser fir and white pine at the Farmer’s Market in Asheville, NC. (Photo: NC Cooperative Extension.)
Before deciding where to plant your Christmas tree, be sure the space is large enough for a mature tree and the sun and soil needs of the tree will be met.
All living trees need special care for their best chance of survival. These tips are paraphrased from the excellent NC State Extension article, Selection and Care of Living Christmas Trees:
A living tree needs limited time in a warm house — only a week to 10 days. If it acclimates to the warmth, it loses its winter hardiness and can be injured when placed back outdoors in cold temperatures. Also keep it watered! If a tree dries out just once, it can be so stressed that it won’t recover. While short display time in the house and prompt planting are best for the tree’s survival in your landscape, if the ground is too frozen for planting, store it in an unheated garage or shed protected from the wind and keep it watered. Here’s how to plant your tree: Till an area four to five times the size of the root ball to a depth of six inches and dig a planting hole the same diameter and slightly shallower than the root ball or container size. Natural burlap can be left on the ball. If a containerized tree is root bound, break up or divide any coiled or massed roots on the outside of the root system. Level the surrounding soil with the top of the roots. After planting, spread two to three inches of mulch over the disturbed area. If the tree is in a windy location, tie and stake it to keep it from blowing over. Some landscapers secure the root ball rather than tying straps to the stem (a practice which frequently injures the bark). Water the tree after planting but wait to fertilize it until spring after the tree has started to grow. Do not over-fertilize in the first year, especially with nitrogen, until roots have had a chance to become well established.To help your tree thrive into the future, pay ongoing attention to mulching, irrigation, and fertilization; insect and disease management; and periodic shaping if you want the “Christmas tree” look. To determine the tree’s amendment needs, test the soil of the area where it’s planted.
Care for Other Holiday Plants
For information and tips about keeping other holiday plants alive — especially poinsettias, Christmas cactus, anthurium, and amaryllis — see Playing in the Dirt: Enjoy Your Holiday Plants After the New Year!
Poinsettias — they don’t have to be red! (Photo: Lynn Calder.)
For More Information:
NC State Extension strongly supports the North Carolina Christmas tree business with excellent information about choosing and caring for your tree. Here is a sample:
Christmas Tree Species (NC State Extension)
Selecting the Right Tree (NC State Extension)
Selection and Care of Living Christmas Trees (NC State Extension)
North Carolina Trees By the Numbers (NC State Extension)
North Carolina Christmas Tree Associations (NC State Extension) (Includes links to tree growers, retailers, locations of choose & cut farms, mail-order trees and wreaths, and where to purchase wholesale trees to sell at lots.)
When Was Your Tree Cut? (NC State Extension)
Christmas Tree Care (NC State Extension)
Flowers and stems of Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera russelliana). (Photo: Wayne Rae. Public Domain Mark 1.0.)
More from the Master Gardener volunteers of Orange County:
Dig Deeper With Us! Join us for free monthly talks on gardening at two locations.
Orange County Library in Hillsborough:
Sunday, Jan. 19, 2-3:30 p.m., Gardening for a Changing Climate Sunday, Feb. 16, 2-3:30 p.m., Meadow Gardening Sunday, March 16, 2-3:30 p.m., Edible Flowers Sunday, April 27, 2-3:30 p.m., Native Trees and Shrubs Sunday, May 18, 2-3:30 p.m., Humane GardeningSeymour Center in Chapel Hill:
Thursday, Jan. 16. 3:30-5 p.m., Gardening for a Changing Climate Thursday, Feb. 20, 10-11:30 a.m., Native Perennials Monday, March 17, 10-11:30 a.m., Edible Flowers Monday, April 21, 10-11:30 a.m., Native Trees and Shrubs Monday, May 19, 10-11:30 a.m., Humane GardeningHave a plant or garden question? Email the Orange County Master Gardener volunteers at ocmgardeners@gmail.com or phone 919-245-2061.
Subscribe to The Garden Buzz, the Orange County Master Gardeners’ monthlynewsletter, for gardening news and tips. And visit our website, The Orange Gardener, for an updated calendar of our events, and lots of links to helpful gardening information and tips.
Follow us on Facebook! Our page is NC State Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, Orange County.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
Playing in the Dirt: Care for Cut and Living Christmas Trees Chapelboro.com.
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