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A Christmas tree is one of the great joys of the season. While a cut tree will only typically last a month, a living tree can be enjoyed for years.
With just a little care and attention you can keep a living Christmas tree that you can bring back into your home every festive season. In the meantime it will give your garden a touch of that Christmas feeling all-year round.
Here’s how to get the most from your living Christmas tree.
How to keep your Christmas tree healthy indoors
The traditional conifers or pine trees that we use as Christmas trees are not indoor plants. Here’s how to take care of them indoors: 
- Aim to have them indoors for no more than 10 to 12 days.
- Don’t put them in a hot room. A room that’s reliably cool or air-conditioned is best.
- Trees prefer a well-lit room.
- Avoid overwatering or underwatering. The potting mix should be nearly dry on the surface and moist, not damp, from about 2 or 3cm down. Do a finger test every couple of days.
- If the tree is standing in a saucer check for water in the saucer. If there’s water there the tree doesn’t need watering.
- Needles browning and dropping are a sign of stress. If this happens move the tree outside straight away.
How to care for your Christmas tree outdoors
With the right care your potted Christmas tree can be a family favourite for years to come. A tree standing 1.5 metres or less should be reusable for at least three or four years. This does depend on the species: radiata pine and Norfolk Island pine, for example, are fairly fast growing and may only be suitable for reusing for a couple of years.
Here’s how to look after your Christmas tree once it’s back outside:
- Don’t put your tree straight back into full sun. Start it in a shady spot and move it into sunnier ones over a period of 10 days or so.
- Choose a more permanent position that is nice and sunny without getting excessively hot.
- For your tree’s first watering back outside give the pot a thorough soaking with a suitably diluted solution of seaweed tonic such as Seasol. Repeat this every month or so.
- Add an application of a good-quality controlled-release fertiliser for acid-loving plants, such as Scotts Osmocote for Roses, Gardenias, Azaleas and Camellias.
- Don’t stand the pot in a saucer. Make sure you keep it reliably watered during the warmer months.
- Throughout the year rotate the pot by a quarter turn every couple of weeks. This will ensure that the whole tree gets the same amount of light and grows evenly.
- Prune off any dead or damaged branches.
- To keep the tree nice and dense very lightly tip-prune a couple of times a year. Never cut back into bare wood because if you do so the branch will die back.
In-ground Christmas trees can grow quickly
How to repot Christmas trees
Your tree will eventually outgrow its current pot. Repotting is simple and will extend the useful life of your tree, potentially by years. Here are some tips:
- Only ever go up to the next pot size.
- Use a potting mix that’s tailored for acid-loving plants, such as Scotts Osmocote for Roses, Gardenias and Azaleas.
- Avoid damaging branches as you repot.
- Avoid root pruning as this may destabilise your tree.
- Do tease the roots out a little to remove some of the old potting mix.
- Don’t compress the potting mix as you add it; use your gloved fingers to gently work it in around the root-ball.
- Water well with a seaweed tonic after repotting.
- How big is too big? This will depend on your situation but it’s best to keep the pot to a manageable size for moving and handling, and the overall height (pot included) to 2m or less.
- To help determine when it’s time to repot check out my simple guide How to know when to repot your plants.
How to care for in-ground Christmas trees
Your tree will eventually outgrow the largest suitable pot and the question becomes what to do with it.
Most of the pine-type trees will do reasonably well in the garden, but be aware that some can be quite fast-growing once in the ground and will become very large trees.
Do some research on the species of tree you have, and make sure that you’re reading local information – trees may grow very differently in other parts of the world.
If you believe that you can accommodate all the tree’s requirements – especially its eventual size – you can plant it in the ground.
There it can still be your Christmas tree, just on a larger scale and for the whole world to see. Share the joy!
Need more help with your Christmas tree?
If you've decided to go with a cut tree this Christmas you will want to check out the Bunnings guide to keeping your cut Christmas tree looking its best.
If you need more help the Bunnings Workshop community is always happy to lend a hand. Start a new discussion and let us know what you need.
