Success with living Christmas trees

Josh Crisalli.

Living Christmas trees are in stock and ready to come home with you, from Mountain Gardens Nursery! Pictured: Fat Albert Spruce and Picea globosa shrubs.

Many people plant a tree every year after Christmas, which really adds to the beauty of their yards, year round. Here's some advice on how to plant a living Christmas tree, a live tree which comes in a container planted in soil. People like them because they are beautiful inside, and after the holiday, you don't throw them away. You plant it in your own yard. So, it saves you money!

Living trees have a good chance of surviving the move from indoors to the landscape. Unsure how to care for a living Christmas tree? Here are a few tips:

1. The tree should not be kept in the house longer than 7-10 days.

2. Water the tree several hours before bringing it in, and then with ice cubes or block ice on the root ball when inside to keep the soil moist and the roots cool like they would be outside.

3. Place in a cool spot, away from heater vents and add ice every couple of days. Provide a saucer to catch excess water draining from the pot.

4. It is best not to keep it in a warm room for more than 10 days, otherwise it may come out of dormancy and the transition to outside will be too cold.

5. If decorating with lights, use only LED miniature types that give off very little heat.

6. After Christmas, move it into the garage, shed or porch for a couple of days so the tree can adjust to the temperature. Provide the tree with water after moving.

7. Plant the tree at your convenience! Many trees are balled and burlapped, and placed in pots. The ties should be cut. Head over to the nursery and we will instruct you on how to do this!

The nip in the air tells us it's time to plant trees and shrubs! We have a great supply of Oregon plants now in stock at the nursery. Here are just a few to choose from:

Baby Blue Eyes and Fat Albert get about 15 to 25 feet tall. Other spruces worth considering are hoopsii, the bluest of the spruces; Bakeri; Alberta; Gowdy Oriental Spruce and Serbian Spruce Bruns. The Cedars available this year include Cedrus atlantica glauca and fastigiata, which are relatively narrow; Deodora and a beautiful "Blue Mist" Cedar, which also weeps. A couple of new arrivals for 2024 are: "Spruce It Up" and North Pole.

We have lots of pines as well, including Green Giant, Western Red Cedar, as well as many fall color plants – far too numerous to list here! You can stop by the nursery for a list of available trees. We also have bulbs, pansies, snapdragons and more, still in stock.

Many gift items are available, including garden art, solar wind spinners, weather vanes, puzzles and wind chimes.

Come by and see all we have this holiday season! We are located at 503 S. Curry St., Tehachapi, and are open Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.