I'm not buying another christmas tree, hopefully!

I recently bought a norfolk island pine at the local grocery store. 4+ feet for $24.95.:D I've heard their very touchy about their environment :( but I'm hoping it will live. If so, I will not buy another christmas tree. I know that the christmas trees everyone buys each year give people jobs, that the trees are specifically grown for people to buy them at christmas time and that they can be mulched. I just would prefer to have a living christmas tree. :-)

Tinkerbell, if the Norfolk pine doesn't make it, here's another way to have a "renewable" living Christmas tree. This was an idea our newspaper carried a few days ago:

Buy a small, slow-growing ornamental evergreen tree (like a dwarf Alberta spruce.) Also purchase a round laundry basket with holes in the sides. After you enjoy the tree the first year, plant it in the basket, and bury it - basket and all - in the ground. Next Christmas, shovel prune around the basket, dig it up, (basket and all), set it in a larger, decorative tub and bring it in a few days before Christmas (I would acclimate it by setting it in an unheated space like the garage for a few days, especially if your weather has been very cold prior to digging it up.)
And I would also recommend throwing a tarp over the hole in case it rains during the holidays.

Enjoy the tree indoors for a few days, like you would any live Christmas tree. When Christmas is over, reverse the process - set the tree back in an unheated space for a few days, then set back in the ground., and mulch.

A woman in Nashville claims to have re-used the same live tree for several (16, maybe?) years with this method. I thought it sounded pretty interesting and frugal.

I have a Norfolk pine Christmas tree too. My husband had his esophagus removed 5 years ago (cancer) and this was the little mini tree I took to him in the hospital. He and it are still alive. It has grown to about 4 feet now and this is the first year I am using it as the "main" tree. I had always used it as the mini tree and bought a cut Christmas tree. But after decorating my Norfolk, I decided not to buy a dead tree this year. And my grandaughter likes this one because it's just her size. I have raised it as a houseplant at a southern window and put it out under a shade tree this summer. It's getting rather difficult to move in its large pot, but since it is now the Official Christmas Tree, it's worth all the effort. I'm going to try giving it more sun next summer and see what happens. It hasn't given me any trouble at all.

This is our first year with the NI pine. Hope it makes it, it's cute, but it's not very big, I miss my big tree. If most of the brugs weren't sticks, I'd decorate them :)

That's a neat idea gp_vols! I hope my tree makes it though. It's looking pretty good right now.:)

Lantana, is their anything special you've done to yours? I've heard that they like humidity and indirect light. I have it in a place where it gets indirct morning sun. I also have the humidifier going.

So you bought one too tig?! How big is yours? I hope both of ours make it!:D

mines only about 3' at best. But it's cute with it's lights and little ornaments. can't put too much on them, they won't have it!

What great ideas! The small Norfolk Pines usually go on sale after Christmas and after reading this I think I'll buy a couple. I also like the laundry basket idea. I'm curious though, would the growth of the Alberta Spruce eventually be stunted, (similar to a bonsai on a bigger scale), since you would have to start cutting some of the roots after a while? Just curious or maybe thinking too much. ;o)

Carol, I wondered about the long-term effects on the tree, too. Can't really say, since I'm just repeating what I read. I suppose slowing the growth eventually would be a good thing, since most of us couldn't accomodate a 20' pine in our living room (I'm getting a mental picture of Lampoon's Christmas Vacation movie here, LOL)

I have a Norfolk Island Pine I bought as a 1' tall plant about 17 years ago. It's now about 8' tall, in spite of terrible neglect and horrid conditions. I don't decorate it, because it just looked so burdened and unhappy when I did a couple of years, but you can get away with a few light weight ornaments. Don't put anything on that will cause even a tiny sag in the branches. They have a tendency to sag with age anyway, like "some" people. Norfolks need a bright window, maybe a glass patio door, or a good flourescent light. Probably the kindest thing you can do for them is to mist them daily with tepid water. Be sure they aren't in a location where the heating and cooling vents blow on them, as this will cause more brown tips and the dehydration will cause the limbs to become brittle. In the summer, you can move them outside if you have a shady spot, but don't forget to mist them unless it's rainy or extremely humid. Descented fish emulsion is good for feeding them, and an occasional watering with weak coffee seems to be welcome. My SIL has one that reached about 20 feet when he planted it under pecan trees in San Antonio, Texas. In the few months when there is a possiblilty of freezing, he keeps it covered with a plastic sheeting, pulling it back if it's warm. It does need to be ventilated to prevent diseases under the plastic.

I moved mine today to the back bedroom where it tends to stay a little cooler than the rest of the house. It looked like it was drooping a little. Thanks for the tips Aimee. I'll be sure to follow what you said.:D

go_vols, a 20 foot tree will not fit in my house either! The next time I go to the nursery I'll try to remember to ask about it and I'll let you know what I find out.

A 20 foot tree would most definitely not fit in my house!! I've heard that they are very slow growing trees though.