Christmas Trees are the best and worst tradition. I don’t know about you, but for years I spent hours agonising over where every single bauble should go, what colour scheme to do, tinsel or no tinsel. Then after I’d finished I’d stand back, take stock and cry because after so many painful hours, it still didn’t look like a department store tree. Nowadays, I just let the kids go wild with it. If it doesn’t look perfect, I just think ‘Oh well, at least they had fun!’
While watching the kids decorate the tree, I began to wonder why we even have Christmas trees and why they are always depicted as Evergreens or Conifers. The answer is in the song.
O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree!
Thy leaves are so unchanging;
Not only green when summer's here,
But also when 'tis cold and drear.
Evergreens, or as we know them, conifers, are green all the time - that is, their leaves never change. Christmas in the northern hemisphere occurs during the bleakest days of the year, so evergreens present a vibrant contrast to the natural world outside - ‘Not only green when summer's here, But also when 'tis cold and drear’.
Because of this, people throughout history have regarded them as special symbols of eternal life or rebirth.
I’ve found many theories of why we decorate our trees at Christmas time, but my favourite was that the tree was decorated with apples (to represent the forbidden fruit) and wafers (to represent the Eucharist and redemption).
So I may not be able to decorate the tree perfectly, but how do I choose the perfect Christmas tree?
Christmas trees are different for everyone, however, in general, Pinus radiata and Picea glauca ‘Christmas Star’ are most people’s first choice when it comes to live Christmas trees.
Picea glauca ‘Christmas Star’ is a compact, slow growing evergreen with dark green foliage. It has a nice dense, conical habit, perfect for it to become your potted living Christmas tree. It is very slow growing so can live in a pot forever, can take up to 10 years to grow to 1.5 metres tall and 80cm wide.
Pinus radiata are faster growing and can get up to 20m tall so be prepared to only have this guy in a pot for a few years and then it will have to go out in your yard. This tree has dense green needle like foliage and beautiful pine cones. Can handle the pot life for a number of years and can be trimmed.
However, if you want a different type of live Christmas tree here are some of my top recommendations:
Magnolia Little Gem
My ultimate live Christmas tree would be the Magnolia ‘Little Gem’. This beautiful magnolia is evergreen, looks brilliant in a pot and can be bought inside for a short period of time. It has lush, dark green foliage, with a bronzed underside of the leaf. Its’ branches are strong enough to hold a bauble and its enormous flowers are a beautiful cream colour.
Jasmine polyanthum Tripod
These beautiful evergreen climbers look great on a tripod (perfect Christmas tree shape) and you can easily hang lights and decorations on the stakes of the tripod. They will last forever in a pot and you can enjoy the scent of your living Christmas tree in Spring
Native Christmas Trees.
Gymnostoma australianum, Daintree Pines would be my first choice as a native Christmas tree. These beautifully elegant plants are native to the the World Heritage Forests of Far North Queensland. Due to their rarity in the wild they have obtained the Qld government’s official conservation status of ‘vulnerable’ species. Soon the only place we may see these pines is in our own backyard. The Daintree Pine is like a living Christmas tree with its fine bring green foliage and natural conical shape. These guys can grow forever in a pot or you can plant them in your garden. They will naturally reach about 4 - 6m.
Trevallan’s large Syzygium australes (around 8m high) are in full bloom at the moment and look as though they are covered in little fairy lights and the ground under them is covered in snow (the fallen flowers). Syzygium 'Resilience' (only grows to about 8m undisturbed) works as an ideal native Christmas tree. Its exceptional trimmability allows easy shaping into a classic Christmas tree form even from a young age. Thriving in our climate, it endures well indoors, making it a lasting festive centrepiece.
Syzyigum ‘Cascade’ would be a nice smaller growing Christmas tree. This beautiful native grows to about 4 meters high and has a lovely weeping habit. Its’ dark, lush green foliage is offset by the brilliant, pink new growth and pink pom pom flowers, which the honey eaters love, followed by pink edible berries, for the berry eating birds. It can easily be grown in a pot or in the ground.
If a smaller tree is required, Acmena smithii 'Allyns Magic' is a fantastic native. Perfect for pots, full sun or part shade. It is always a dark, lush green, with bright red new growth. You can even trim it to a conical shape to better represent a Christmas tree!
Casuarina glauca ‘Greenwave’. This hardy evergreen shrub forms a natural ball shape, with long thin branches that would make you think it’s a conifer. It holds shape without the need to trim and looks amazing in pots or the garden. It only grows to about 2m high and loves the full sun.
My favourite native conifer is Callitris rhomboidea. It’s a bit of a mouthful... so many people call it the Oyster Bay Pine. This tree is only found in Australia and can reach up to 12m in its native habitat. In cultivation (your garden), it doesn’t tend to grow more than 6m, but it can be kept a little smaller. This is a glorious feature tree that can be grown in pots or the garden. If you fall in love with it, it will also work as a loose screen or wind break. As it’s native to most states of Australia, this plant will basically grow any where in most soils and once established, it can handle dry and cold conditions.
Elaeocarpus Prima Donna This tree has masses of delicately fringed small pink flowers in spring. These flowers kind of look like fairy ballerina skirts and have a faint perfume. After flowering, blue edible fruits appear that the wildlife love (although these fruits are edible they’re not overly palatable!). The foliage is pretty wondrous too and can be very colourful when it’s in full growth mode. It has bronze new growth, dusky green growth and then as the leaf ages, it turns a brilliant red. It’s a slow growing small tree, around 4m on average. It has a slender shape and great branch structure so perfect for Christmas ornament hanging. It has high pest and disease resistance and is exceptionally low maintenance once established. It can also handle dry, hot, humid and cold conditions.
Backhousia citriodora (lemon myrtle) is the perfect choice for a Christmas tree as it comes pre-decorated. Yes that’s right, at this time of year my citriodoras are in full bloom. Even when the flower has finished, the bract continues to look amazing.
Phyllanthus cuscutiflorus or pink phyllanthus. This is a glorious native, with the softest most delicate foliage and dainty flowers. Currently, ours are all coming into bud and it looks like dainty fairy lights hanging off the stems. This plant has soft green foliage and pink new growth that has a slight weeping habit. It’s not an exceptionally dense grower, but that’s so you can see the little flowers that form tassels along the stem. I adore this plant and was very excited to use it as a loose hedge in my last house. It grew into a lovely Christmas tree shape naturally, but as it was near the trampoline, I trimmed it occasionally and it looked even denser and more fantastic than I originally thought it could. These plants can grow to around 3m high and wide. It can grow in full shade to full sun and can handle most soil types. I found it can stress if left for a long periods of time without water, (it may suffer leaf drop) but it can handle a degree of neglect once it’s established. It can also handle humidity, and although it doesn’t like heavy frosts, it can endure the cold.
Taking Care of Living Christmas Trees
With all real Christmas trees, be sure to water them well. The most common cause of death is under-watering, usually because we don’t want to wet our floors or the presents! Buy an extra-large saucer, or a planter, (a pot that doesn’t have a hole and is meant to retain water) to sit your tree in.
Don’t keep your tree inside for months on end and when you finally do take it back outside, move it back into the sun slowly. Put it in a shady spot for a week or two, then to a part shady spot, then out to full sun.
Once it’s back outside, give it a good fertilise with Organic Link slow release organic fertiliser and liquid fertilise fortnightly with Plant Care, until it has acclimatised to the outside conditions.
This year, why not buy a REAL Christmas tree. Just remember to choose a plant that will bring you and your family years of joy and let the kids do the decorating, while you sit back and enjoy an egg nog (or three)!