Don’t Throw Out Your Old Christmas Tree Just Yet – You May Be Able To Replant It
Chris is a gardening writer and nature enthusiast. He graduated from Oxford Brookes University in 2022 with an MA in Psychology. Chris works with the Leeds Green Action Society, helping their food cooperative by growing various fruit and vegetables on their two allotments in Hyde Park, Leeds.
Reviewed By COLIN SKELLY
Colin is a Horticulturist and Horticultural Consultant with experience in a range of practical and managerial roles across heritage, commercial and public horticulture. He holds the Royal Horticultural Society’s Master of Horticulture award and has a particular interest in horticultural ecology and naturalistic planting for habitat and climate resilience.
Contributions From BEN RASKIN
With 20 years of commercial growing experience under his belt, Ben Raskin is now the Head of Horticulture & Agroforestry at the Soil Association. He is also the author of several gardening books, including Zero Waste Gardening and The Woodchip Handbook. Ben is a full member of the Garden Media Guild.
Each year, millions of Christmas trees get sent either to landfill, recycling plants or, heaven forbid, wood chipping machines.
What sort of fate is this for their final sacrifice of making your family’s Christmas that little bit more special?
Lots of people wonder whether their tree can be replanted, however.
We’ve written this article to address that very question!
Can You Replant A Christmas Tree After Using It?
The short answer? Yes.
The long answer comes with a few caveats, which we’ll run you through now.
What Type Of Tree Do I Have?
To determine whether it’s possible to plant and grow your Christmas tree, you need to know what type it is.
There are two types –
- Cut Christmas Trees – these are trees that have been grown in the ground, then cut down at the trunk. Sometimes you buy them like this, other times you can cut them down yourself, a nice little festive activity for the family.
- Containerised Christmas Trees – these trees have been carefully transplanted to a container along with a root system that keeps them alive.
As you might expect, cut Christmas trees can’t keep growing.
You can take a cutting and use that to start a new tree, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
If you were asking yourself whether a cut tree would grow roots, that’s a no.
Put them in water and they’ll just slowly rot, and planting them outdoors will achieve nothing.
So, the answer to the question “can you put a cut Christmas tree in soil” is a resounding no, unfortunately.
This means that if you want to keep growing your Christmas tree once the festive season is over, you’ll need to go for a containerised tree.
What Is A Containerised Christmas Tree?
This is a type of Christmas tree that’s been specially conditioned to grow in a container.
The idea is that you bring the living tree inside your home near Christmas, then return it outdoors after Christmas to keep growing.
“I would tend not to grow trees in pots, as it is a struggle,” shares Tree Expert Ben Raskin.
“The exception to this would be Christmas trees, so you can reuse them and bring them in every year.
“We are on our 4th year of using the same potted Christmas tree now, which I’m really proud of.”
How To Keep A Containerised Tree Growing
Being indoors is actually a bit of a shock to the system for a Christmas tree.
Think about it: these evergreen trees are used to surviving outdoors in the thick of winter, sometimes spending days at a time under a blanket of snow.
So, sitting beside your roaring fireplace (or, more likely, radiator) involves temperatures way above what they’re used to.
Too long in this environment can dry them out and, left too long, cause enough damage that they’ll be unable to grow properly (or at all) thereafter.
How to balance the need to flaunt your fabulous, tinsel-clad centrepiece with the tree’s survival needs, then?
Simple, just follow these tips –
- Try to keep the heat down in the room the tree lives in.
- Bring the tree into your house as close to Christmas as possible.
- Pack down the tree as soon after Christmas as you can bear. They’ll struggle beyond 10-14 days.
You’ll be able to tell when a Christmas tree isn’t happy: its needles will start to turn brown, and its overall appearance will start to seem generally more unhealthy.
If it’s not too big you can move your tree back outdoors for a little while to recuperate before bringing it in for another festive display. Let the tree guide you.
Keeping your containerised tree growing after Christmas is a great way to enjoy it year after year, and you get the combined benefit of having an attractive new addition to your garden in the interim.
Here’s how to keep your containerised tree alive –
- Don’t bring it indoors too far ahead of Christmas.
- Move it outdoors as soon after Christmas as possible.
- Repot into progressively bigger pots as and when the tree’s roots require it.
- Use John Innes 2 or a similar compost to meet the tree’s nutritional needs.
The eventual size of your tree will depend on how and where it’s grown.
In a container, the size will be capped by how much the roots can grow.
Expect maximum heights of a couple of metres.
Grown in the ground, however, you can expect much greater heights, as Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly shares:
“If you are going to plant your Christmas tree in your garden, make sure you make a note of the species when you buy it.
“Most are Picea abies (Norway Spruce) but Abies nordmanniana (Nordman Fir) is also popular.
“Do some research on the final size of the trees and plant them in a spot big enough to avoid having to cut them down at a future date!”
After a couple of decades it’s not impossible for a tree to be 30m or more! (Obviously, it’ll be a lot harder to squeeze into your front room at this point).
How To Dispose Of A Christmas Tree
Many people are quite content to send their Christmas tree to landfill once the occasion has passed – definitely something we’d advise against.
If you do decide to get rid of your tree once Christmas is over, there are a few ways to do it responsibly:
- Most local councils offer some kind of drop-off service where you can take your tree to a park or other public place, and it’ll be picked up at a scheduled time.
- You can find a composting site and put your tree through a chipper. The resulting green material is great for mulching or adding to compost heaps.
- Christmas trees make great firewood, so you can always give them a Viking send-off in a big bonfire. If you go for this option make sure it’s a) legal where you live and b) safe!
Don’t Let The Bells End
There’s nothing quite as festive as a Christmas tree festooned in tinsel, baubles, novelty decorations, candy canes, bows, and myriad other Christmas decorations.
Even the hardest Scrooge-like heart will be softened by this display, especially if it’s beside a fire with a medley of presents gathered beneath.
And what better way to pay tribute to the tree than to save it from a landfill afterlife, or a fatal appointment with a wood chipper.
By replanting your Christmas tree you get to enjoy each other’s company for years – maybe decades – to come.
