Can a cut Christmas tree be replanted?

[Dogtrousers]

That wouldn't work because no branch is going to be symmetrical. No, they're grown pretty much to size (a friend of mine sells them, so I do know).

Many moons ago my mother would venture out in December with a saw to the embankment of a nearby dual carriageway and hack a chunk off a conifer to use as a Christmas tree. You are right, they were never particularly symmetrical.

 

[tyred]

It's unlikely but you never know. In the days when fence posts were rough cut and untreated, occasionally they did take root. It probably depends on the type of tree.

Cut it at an angle before putting it in the ground.

 

[stephec]

Speaking from a bonsai perspective I'd say it's a big fat no, without any roots it's already dieing.

 

[Jameshow]

Also a cut tree isn't really a tree. It's a branch from a much bigger tree.

Not in terms of a Christmas tree. They are grown to that size and cut down. They don't prune a big tree to produce lots of little Christmas trees 🌲🌲🌲🤣🤣🤣

 

[Julia9054]

One particularly disorganised year, we bought a tree with roots in a pot from a supermarket reduced to £5. It was about 1m tall.
We brought it inside every year. It lasted 5 years by which time it was almost touching the living room ceiling and we repotted it once. I have no gardening skills and one summer it just randomly died.

 

[biggs682]

I always keep an eye out for the supermarkets that are selling the potted ones of cheaply but they are normally in a sad state by that time and they still want £10 for them

 

[tom73]

One particularly disorganised year, we bought a tree with roots in a pot from a supermarket reduced to £5. It was about 1m tall.
We brought it inside every year. It lasted 5 years by which time it was almost touching the living room ceiling and we repotted it once. I have no gardening skills and one summer it just randomly died.

It mostly died from lack of water which can be from damage the session before.

Many growers have offered for a few years now option to rent a tree thats pot grown. This model is quite popular with community based companies and open farms. Some let you label it and rent the same one over next few years. Once too big they plant them out and they become stock. The next big thing coming over over the next few years is organically grown ones the industry has been working with the soil association for years on it. The 1st few should be out it time for this Christmas.

Generally I always say buy direct from a grower most of the ones you buy have been shipped in and get cut down months before.
Precut always use a stand than hold water and top it up every day with good pint full. How ever you buy a precut always cut off a good few inch from the base into fresh wood. Then a good 24 hours before you bring them in leave it standing in bucket of water.

 

[tom73]

I always keep an eye out for the supermarkets that are selling the potted ones of cheaply but they are normally in a sad state by that time and they still want £10 for them

Be careful about ones in pots many are ones dug up and potted up so never have enough root ball to last. It's a quick way to add value to one. Christmas tree are not the only things to sold like that in the plant world.
Look for a truly pot grown one from the start they will be all in one piece and if you look after them should last for years.

 

[Julia9054]

Many growers have offered for a few years now option to rent a tree thats pot grown

That's a great idea. I've always been uncomfortable with bringing a tree inside to slowly die but mostly object to the huge expense
I don't bother with a tree these days but decorate the house with offcuts from my garden

 

[kingrollo]

Nope even ones with a root ball often struggle.
Best are those that are pot grown.

I put some hormone routing powder on one a few years back - and it did take and start to grow - but then a blazing hot summer fried it !

 

[biggs682]

I put some hormone routing powder on one a few years back - and it did take and start to grow - but then a blazing hot summer fried it !

I did wonder about hormone rooting powder .
I watched a link where an American guy re planted loads and he drilled loads of small holes in the lower 10" or so then just planted them and left them and had quite a high level of success

 

[tom73]

I did wonder about hormone rooting powder .
I watched a link where an American guy re planted loads and he drilled loads of small holes in the lower 10" or so then just planted them and left them and had quite a high level of success

The root growth if any will never match the amount of water lost. You're talking giving it gallons water every day even in wet weather.
A properly prepped stream or leave cutting has a change of taking. Even then anything thicker than 1/2inch and your pushing it. But a fully grow tree you've no chance it's sadly a lot more use as compost than a living thing.
If you think about it a plant / tree to have any real chance of surviving being moved you need dig up a rootball apox the plants width. You see the massive ask you have for effective a tree size cutting to make roots to live.

 

[biggs682]

Thread resurrection time.
About 15 years ago we bought a real rooted Christmas tree in a pot and once Christmas was over it went outside and we planted it in the garden within a bigger pot with the idea of bringing it in every Christmas, I can only remember doing it once and it looked very sad so when it went back outside we removed it from the pot and planted it in the garden the root ball was very minimal and it didn't really do a lot of growing for the first few years but now I would say the top is level with my office window.

Today there is someone due to cut off the top section ie from fence height or just below and they are going to use it as there family Christmas tree and the rest is being used to make wreaths .

It had to be chopped or dug up as the lower branches overhang the grass and has killed the grass and also it moves quite a bit in the wind so don't want to risk it being blown down and causing a lot of damage.

Once the top half has gone our plan is to trim the branches back that overhang the lawn and add a bird table or small feeding station to the top and re instate the hog house that sits between the trunk and the fence post.

It will be sad to see it gone but in reality we should have planted it about 10 foot further down the garden so it had more space and less chance of doing any damage.

 

[biggs682]

And that's what we are keeping

 

[presta]

I saw a Christmas tree grower on TV dipping the cut ends in some jollop to stop them re-growing.