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Should I take Christmas tree back?

gardeninglily1gardeninglily1 Posts: 424
in The potting shed
Oh dear... I read up on buying live Christmas trees and knew it was better to buy seed grown.  However I went to a local garden centre (est. over 50 years) and saw nordmann firs for £40. The pot was wrapped in green polythene so couldn’t see soil/roots. I spoke to the owner and he assured me that the trees were carefully lifted and potted on and it would continue to grow. He said do not unwrap it but just open polythene slightly to water. I was a bit perplexed at that but trusted him (and I was rushing and really wanted one so let my heart rule my head). I’ve just opened the polythene and I feel so disappointed - the soil is like sand and doesn’t even cover the roots. I’ve attached a couple of pics 
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Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Just put it in a bigger pot with good garden soil.
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    That looks like it's been hacked out of the ground and they are not grown in the best soils.  Most "rooted" Xmas trees are like this.   One grown from seed and potted on each time in a nursery would cost a great deal more.  To stand any chance of it surviving you need to pot it on with some good compost and keep it cool and sheltered to reduce stress on teh foliage while its roots recover.

    TBH, it's not much chepaer to buy one that's been cut and at least this one has a chance of surviving.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • gardeninglily1gardeninglily1 Posts: 424
    I know ha ha I shouldn’t have peeked!
    He has been deceitful. I trusted him as his father owned the garden centre before him and they’ve been there years. 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    The same thing happened to my parents. The tree survived xmas although not as well as you'd expect a live tree to. They asked me to plant it out in the field for them and after I'd dug a hole I found the tree was tied down to the pot. I cut the string and it just fell out of the pot with barely any root on there and very sandy soil in the pot. Needless to say it didn't survive and I've got several pine/fir trees in the same area that were transferred bare root and are thriving. Total scam if you ask me but we'd left it too late to take it back by the time I went to plant it. You buy a pot grown tree not a tree stuck in a pot though. Trading standards would have some strong words for them no doubt. 
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Busy-LizzieBusy-Lizzie Posts: 24,043
    Christmas trees are quite tough though. If they have left some roots it should survive being re-potted. If you go to the Alps you will see them growing in impossible places, sometimes looking as though they are in bare rock.
    Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
  • Jason millyJason milly Posts: 546
    I bought one last year and it had no roots after trying to put in the ground after complaining all I got was they will pass my comments on. 
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    It depends how strongly you feel about it, @gardeninglily1. If you feel you have been misled, then l would take it back and see what he says. If he is trading on the goodwill that his father has built up, then he won't survive very long when word gets around. It could well be a genuine error that he would be happy to put right by replacing it. Just check the replacement over before you leave !  :)
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Considering the  heft of the trunk [from what I can see] it's ina very small pot, so I'd get it into something more substantial with more soil, as Lyn says. Not compost, but some decent soil from the garden.  Water well, and it should be ok, assuming there's a decent enough root system, and it hasn't been damaged too much by being hoiked out the ground. 
    However, the fact that he told you not to remove the plastic and look, suggests he knows it was dodgy, so it wouldn't hurt to go back if you can be bothered. 40 quid is a lot of money to be getting screwed over.  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    I have a nice artificial tree bought for £15.99 in 1999 from B&Q.
    It is so nice not to have to worry about a tree every year!!
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • gardeninglily1gardeninglily1 Posts: 424
    Thank you everyone- I too have an artificial one for inside the house but just fancied a live one in a pot by the front door. £40 was a big expense to me but I thought I’ll have it every year. No decs going on it - just the natural look. I am going to email them with pics just to let them know that I know and see what they come back with. I’ll keep you posted 🙂
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