Potted Christmas Trees

yellowcrocus

Does anyone know where I could buy a cheap living christmas tree? I have paid in excess of £50 for the last few years and really can't afford it this Christmas, and even though they always flipping die anyway I just can't bring myself to buy a cut tree.:o

Thanks

Itsgottabedone

I have bought from Homebase on the past few occasions and found the trees to be pretty good - they have all lasted at least two years.

yellowcrocus

Thanks. What kind of price are they?

prettyflamingo

i always had live trees and tended to get them from b and q until 2 years ago the one i bought lasted all of 1 week and then died (i had basically a twig in a bucket) so i went out and got a fake one. always said i wouldnt do it as i love the smell of a real tree but its just not worth the money sadly. wonder how early they get dug up?!

calicocat

I have bought them from Asda potted before , cant remember the price but it wasnt that much......not a big one though. The first year it died after a week and i took the pot back...they replaced immediately and the replacement was fine.

pinkieminkie

I used to sell Christmas trees many years ago. We used to advise on buying a 'pot grown', rather than 'potted' tree if you wanted to keep it for several years / plant it in the garden.

A potted tree will have been grown in the ground and then dug up and planted into a pot - this means it is very likely the roots have been damaged. This type of tree will usually only last for the year it was bought, maybe the following year. Pot grown trees have been grown in the pots so will have a good root ball - these trees are more expensive but should last well.

yellowcrocus

Thanks, I had a similar experience with a B&Q tree last year, it cost £49.99 and barely made it to New Year :eek: I will check out Homebase, and look for 'pot grown'.

pinkieminkie

yellowcrocus wrote: »

Thanks, I had a similar experience with a B&Q tree last year, it cost £49.99 and barely made it to New Year :eek: I will check out Homebase, and look for 'pot grown'.

£49.99! Ouch!

Just a few more things to give the tree the best chance. Keep it well watered, once the pot has dried out and the needles have dropped then you will have a dead tree - no matter how it has been grown! Also keep it well away from sources of heat - open fires, radiators etc. Bring it indoors as late in the festive season as you can and take it out the earliest you can. Remember that it is an outdoor tree that prefers things cool and damp!

We have kept a pot grown tree going for several years - repotting each spring until it got a little too big and cumbersome. It was then given its permanent home in the garden and is now our outdoor tree that is still decorated with lights each year.

jollymummy

Going off topic here, but about 10 years ago, me and DH were totally disorganised at Christmas - pre children.

Anyway we went to Morrison's to do our shopping on Christmas Eve and hadn't bought a tree, there was a Morrison's employee selling real Christmas trees outside the store.

My DH said how much are they, he said make me an offer, DH said alright a pound (cheeky) the bloke said Ok you can have 2 for a pound and we ended up with a Chrimbo tree in each room downstairs for 50p each.

Wasn't that frugal though as we had to buy an extra set of fairy lights, it still makes me laugh though after all this time Apologies for high jack !!