Grow Your Own Christmas Tree This Fall and enjoy it year round. There are several advantages of growing your own Christmas tree: A conifer is an excellent feature plant that greatly enhances your property. Choose a smaller specimen or slower growing variety to start with so that you won’t need to climb up a ladder too soon when it comes to decorating your tree. Planting trees of any kind will create some welcomed shade for hot summer days and help reduce the carbon footprint. Planting your Christmas tree takes only little time and effort to complete.
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The 5 Most Popular Choices Of Christmas Trees – Spruce and fir trees grow in conical shapes along with dark-green leaves, which make them perfect choices for those looking for a traditional Christmas tree to plant. The annual growth rates between the species however varies. While most spruce trees grow an average of 6 to 11 inches per year, fir trees can grow between 13 and 24 inches in height. Evergreens should receive abundant moisture in fall before freeze up as they lose water from their foliage in winter and are unable to take up replacement moisture from the frozen soil.
Norway Spruce (Picea abies) – The Norway Spruce is probably most recognisable as the traditional Christmas tree with its beautiful pyramidal shape and weeping branches, bright green coloured, four-sided smooth leaves and its pleasant fragrance. Matured, this tree can reach heights up to 60 feet high.
Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) – Described and heralded by botanists and tree experts as “one of the most striking and truly graceful objects in nature” and as “one of the noblest forest trees.” The Douglas Fir has a beautiful, iconic, pyramid shape with dark green leaves, grows between 13 and 24 inches in height annually and it emits a powerful fragrance that is one of the richest among Christmas trees. If you want to make a strong statement in your yard, this tree is you best bet.
Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) – The Blue Spruce with its powerful spicy scent features silver-blue coloured branches that grow in a dense conical manner with needles which tend to curve upward at the end. Regarded by many as the Blue Spruce that is perfect for Christmas trees. The branches of this tree are strong and they are widely used for Christmas decorations. This conifer grows 12 to 24 inches annually and can reach a height up to 75 feet at maturity.
Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) – Balsam firs look very similar to spruce trees. The difference is that their cones stand straight up while spruce cones dangle. The Balsam Fir is one of the most popular Chritmas trees due to its dark green colour, heavy density foliage and short soft needles. It matures to a height of 70 feet and can live at elevations up to 6,000 feet above sea level. It is hardy to temperatures reaching -40 degrees Celsius.
Black Hills Spruce (Picea glauca) – The Black Hills Spruce is a small to medium height tree of up to 60 feet in height. Originally from the Black Hills of South Dakota, this conifer is a good addition to residential landscapes and it makes not only for an great windbreak because of its with a broad, pyramidal form, dense habit and slower growth rate, but also for an ideal Christmas tree.
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At Nicholas Alexander – Vernon’s New Garden Centre of Choice, you can find a great selection of suitable conifers for your outdoor Christmas tree planting project. Visit us today and our friendly staff will be happy to serve you!