Cut or potted tree, which one to choose?

In mid-December arises the question of decoration of Christmas tree to create a magical holiday atmosphere. Natural and alive, you can opt for a fir cut or in a pot. What are the advantages and disadvantages ?

Which species of fir to choose?

Among all the essences, two are great classics.

• You can choose a spruce top (Picea abies or excelsa) which is very fragrant, with a lingering and approachable resin smell but it will lose its pungent needles over the days. He can’t stand the heat interiors and when Christmas arrives, it risks being plucked! Install it 15 days before December 25;
• The alternative tree is called Nordmann (Abies nordmanniana) which retains pliable, plump and green needles for many months. Install it in early December. It tolerates the heat of heating. Its needles also have the advantage of not stinging! Its price is more expensive to buy and unfortunately it does not give off a resinous smell, unlike spruce.

Know that there is a Red label and a Blue Plant Label which guarantees the superior quality oftree, a late cut, its aesthetics and freshness, all in an environmentally friendly approach.

In pots, do something for the environment

Buying a potted tree allows you to replant in the garden or simply to position it in a corner of a Terrace, once the holidays have passed. Take care to acclimatize it after Christmas to avoid a thermal shock between the heat of the living room and the cold outside. Spend a period in the garage or take it out on sunny days and then bring it in at night for a few weeks. It will be able to be part of the decor all year round with its persistent thorns. The following year, you can decorate it again for Christmas. You will thus do a gesture for the environment. This choice remains more expensive to buy because you are acquiring a potted shrub, with a root ball ready for planting.

Note that some brands offer to bring back the potted tree, bought on site, in exchange for a voucher. The trees are then replanted.

Cut, for lack of space in the garden

When you live in a small space or an apartment, the choice of cut tree is yours. Once Xmas past, the tree stripped, drop it off at a collection point in your town to be recycled or put it outside on the day the dumpsters pass for the waste green. Do not abandon it savagely on a sidewalk because this act is punishable by a fine. It will then be incinerated or transformed into compost or mulch acid. This mulching will protect and nourish the plants.

If you have a fireplace, a stove drink or a wood-burning barbecue for the summer, cut up the Christmas tree and dry it (to prevent the sap from clogging the conduit) before burning it to heat you in winter or cook the grilled meat season. Store it in a shelter so that it is completely dry.

Fir, what conditions should I keep it indoors?

Whether potted or cut, the fir tree needs a atmosphere fresh to flourish. Avoid placing it next to a fireplace, stove or radiator. Near a fireplace, it could catch fire. Prefer to keep it away and keep a temperature of 18 ° C all day.

• For a potted subject, bring it a little water on the surface of the earth once a week and spray the foliage until the installation electric garlands ;
• For the cut fir, placed in a wooden log, there is not much to do because once cut, its end of life is announced. To prolong its conservation, plant the trunk in a bucket of sand that you can moisten every week.