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Christmas trees...
My Christmas Tree, from last year is in a pot out in the garden, it cost £7 and after potting up has grown a few inches over the summer. It's probably too big for the coffee table now at about 2-3ft high but I was amazed it didn't die and as an evergreen added all year colour on the patio .
Went down to the local GC today and out of curiosity checked out the price of Christmas tree's. £40 for a potted 2ft high Normadic Spruce
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...Zoomer went off to look at decorations/cards
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What do other posters do at Christmas? Have you recycled last years tree or do you get another one...
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For the last couple of years we have had a fake tree, although a very good one. This year we want to get a smallish tree with roots so we can either keep it potted or put in the garden to hopefully grow.
Before we came to live here we'd always had a real tree - a new one each year which we took to be shredded afterwards. When the children were small fetching the tree and dressing it were important rituals for our family. We never dressed the tree until the 23rd as it is my son's birthday on the 22nd and we always made it a separate celebration
But here we have large open rooms with waxed parquet floors - we need a tree a minimum of 7ft to look right - and the expense of such a huge tree each year, coupled with the difficulty of moving such a tree and pot and the anxiety of keeping it watered without risking damp stains on the floors forced us to have a re-think.
We bought a huge white artificial tree and it looks amazing in here - the first year we had it we won a prize of some special Scottish smoked salmon for 'the best dressed tree'
It's not a traditional look, but it's jolly celebratory.
I've been pondering a small potted tree to keep in a pot put on the front porch each festive period - we used to put the bay lollipop by the front door and dress it with glass baubles, but it's in a huge pot now and is too big to move.
I'm keeping my eyes open for something that'll be just right ......................
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
We always used to buy rooted trees of the non needle shedding variety but only one ever survived once planted out and it's now about 20' tall. For the last couple of years we've bought cut trees of the non shedding variety - less expensive but still pricey as we like a good 6' or 7' tree. I have an old galvanised laundry tub that I've painted red and stencilled with gold snow flakes and Xmas trees which means we can give a good water supply and a couple of stones for stability.
It's worth noting that there's a lot of difference in the potential viability between 'pot-grown' Christmas trees, and those that have been dug up (often with a lot of roots severed) and plonked into a pot and sold like that.
If you want to keep a tree growing in a pot for future years it's worth paying a bit more for one the the guaranteed 'pot grown' trees
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Mine is artificial, seven feet tall. I'd post a picture from last year but far too early
It was bought, or should I say I bought it when we first moved here, no plaster on walls, no carpets etc..just wanted to feel like Christmas. It did the trick, but and a big but, I didn't think about the size of it and how we'd accomodate it with furniture. Answer, we couldn't. It stayed in the loft a few years and we had to have a conservatory built to put it in.
Each year H says we should donate it to Chatsworth House.
We have an artificial tree inside but both my children have a live one outside (Picea glauca concia) which I put some lights around that they make some edible decorations for the birds.
we gave up having trees at Christmas, our ceilings are very high and we always needed the tallest, and therefore expensive trees. Plus the fact we usually go away over the holiday period so we do'nt even get to enjoy it. However, I always decorate the place with lots of real holly garlands and greenery from the garden, we have a Strawberry tree that has lovely colourfull berries and makes a nice Christmas'y display.
so our home does'nt look like Scrooge in in residence!
Ironically, last year, some one very kindly dumped their discarded xmas tree in my garden, so I still ended up having to dispose of one!!
Not very nice. I used to collect all the neighbours used trees to make compost and to use as a wildlife hedge (the needles act as a mulch and stops weeds, allowing the saplings to grow). Sometime the dead trees get very light and blow away, so I no longer do that.
We have a little fake 3 foot tree that I whip out at Christmas, would like a bigger/real one but not sure the house can take it without losing some furniture from the front room
Sadly I have a minor obsession with buying decorations for the tree and now have more than my little tree can handle 
Will have to think creatively to be able to get them all out!
Panda, I stick to a colour theme and use the same ones each year, but just keep adding
H hasn't sussed why they come out of boxes from the loft, but won't fit back in.
I've got some naff ornaments that I spread around the house ..these must go this year !