Planting Your Living Christmas Tree

At the Northeast Nursery, you are purchasing a living tree rather than a cut tree, so you can have many more future years watching this tree grow. How it is cared for before, during and after the holiday, will have a major impact on it's ability to survive.

Steps

1. Pre-dig the hole where it is going to be installed. Take the soil and incorporate planting mix with it. Store it in a dry area. Cover the hole with a board so no one falls in.

2. Once you purchase the plant keep it outside and continue watering it so it doesn’t dry out.

3. Move it into a room or garage that is slightly warmer than the outside but cooler than the room you intend to leave it in for the holiday season for a few days.

4. Then move it to a room that does not get very hot. Do not put the tree near a heater or radiator.

5. Keep the plant in your house for no more than 7 days. The longer you keep it inside the greater the chance of it not surviving the upcoming winter.

6. Decorate the tree as you normally would and keep the plant well watered.

7. At the end, reverse the steps and bring it into that cooler room for a few days before going outdoors.

8. Try to install the plant on a milder day. Plant the tree according to our planting instructions. Water the plant after installation and place 3-6” of bark mulch around the plant for the first winter. 

9. If you could not install the plant then keep plant outside in a protected area and mulch the root system very deeply. This will insulate the roots for the upcoming winter.

10. In the spring take back the mulch to a 2-3” depth. Make sure the plant did not heave out of the ground. Water the plant as needed for the rest of the growing season.