Potted Norway Spruce Christmas tree

This potted Norway spruce, 100 to 125 cm tall, is not a cut tree: it arrives with its rootball intact, in a pot dressed with a red cover. It is a living tree, and that changes everything — both how it holds through Christmas and what becomes of it afterwards.

Why choose a potted tree

A cut spruce drops its needles after two or three weeks in a heated room. In a pot, the tree keeps feeding itself: it holds its fresh green and its suppleness far longer, and its resinous scent — the real one, which the Nordmann lacks — lasts to the end.

It is also the choice of anyone who dislikes putting a tree out on the kerb in January. Treated well, this one goes into the ground.

Size and use

At 100 to 125 cm it suits a flat, a hallway, a child's room or a low table. It is also the ideal size for a terrace or balcony: it can spend the holidays outdoors and come in only for Christmas Eve.

Care, in three rules

Water it regularly. The rootball must never dry out: a glass of water every two days is enough, more if it stands near a radiator. The water should moisten the soil without pooling at the bottom of the pot.

Keep it away from heat. Radiators, stoves, fireplaces, direct sun behind glass: dry heat is its worst enemy, far more than cold.

Limit its time indoors to two weeks. Beyond that, the tree comes out of winter dormancy and starts growing again — which reduces its chances of taking in the garden.

Replanting after Christmas

Everything hinges on the transition. Do not move the tree straight from the living room to the garden. Leave it a week in an unheated space — a garage, a porch, a shed — so it readjusts to the cold gradually.

Then plant it in a hole twice the width of the rootball, without burying the collar, and water generously even in winter. Choose the spot carefully: a Norway spruce can reach fifteen metres in open ground. With no garden, repot it into a larger container and keep it on a terrace.

Decorating it

On a living tree of this size, keep it light: small baubles and a fine string of LED lights, which give off no heat. Avoid artificial snow spray, which clogs the needles of a tree that is still alive.

See also our cut Norway spruce and our Nordmann trees.