| Festive
Trees
15
December 2005
Fairies
aren’t fussy, they will sit on top of
anything but give some thought as to what type
of Christmas tree suits your needs.
Artificial trees look the part although I’m
not so sure of the current rage for black. Good,
realistic looking specimens are expensive but
it is a one-off cost against buying a tree every
December and carting it home. They don’t
drop their needles and require no additional
support.
However live trees are authentic and often have
the pleasing fragrance of resin.
 Great
care needs to be exercised when choosing a tree.
Murphy’s Law states that the perfect specimen
at point of sale will look one-sided and unbalanced
when it is in the room. With a cut tree waiting
until the week before Christmas before bringing
it into a warm room will reduce the risk of
the needles dropping prematurely. Standing the
cut stump for a few hours in a bucket of water
before bringing it indoors and then supporting
it in a container of wet sand will help keep
the foliage in good condition.
Small pot grown Christmas trees are fine but
if you want a 5-6 ft tree with roots then it
will be sold bare root. Select one with as many
fine, fibrous roots as possible. Thick roots
that have been chopped off close to the trunk
are unlikely to survive to grow away for another
year.
I am not in favour of buying trees for planting
out in the garden. Most will die or struggle
looking a mess by next December. Those that
do survive are often left in the ground to grow
and another one purchased. Within a few years
you will have a conifer forest for a garden.
Select a tree with closely spaced branches.
If they are too far apart the tree is difficult
to decorate. Protect the tip of the tree while
transporting it home otherwise the fairy will
have to find another home.
There are many species and varieties of suitable
tree on the market including those with bluish
green leaves. The needles may be short or long,
soft to the touch or sharply pointed.
 Outside
any tree in the garden can be used to support
lights. For years I have decorated an upright
Prunus Amanagawa,as well as a round headed,
ornamental flowering cherry,(Prunus ‘Hillieri
Spire’) and a beautiful white barked birch
(Betula utilis jacquemontii). Remember a fairy
isn’t just for one Christmas, it’s
forever.
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