Grow Your Own Christmas Tree?

[Martin109]

Feeling a bit fed up with the £35 cost of an, admittedly, very nice Nordman Fir (Abies Nordmanniana) I bought as our Christmas tree, I wondered about the prospect of growing my own for future years.

A quick Google comes up with a grower's catalogue giving:

(Forest grown rootballed trees)
45-60cm   £6.00
60-90cm    £9.00
90-120cm  £14.00
120-180cm   £23.00

I wonder how long it would take for a 60-90cm tree-let to become a 120-180cm tree.

I've got the land, but how much time would it take?

[andyoxon]

Would you want to bring it in the house?  For Christmas 2008 we bought a ~100cm pot growing Nordmann (From Tescos Garden centre here) for about £20 or so.  It's now 120cm and still in original pot for this period (deliberate); the first year it grew 10cm.  After each Christmas I put the tree in the garden - close to a house wall to begin with if very cold (to avoid thermal shock), where it stays for the year.  Planted out in good conditions I've seen 30cm/yr (slow to medium) quoted, and eventually 200ft if you forgot about it...   

[Speshact]

We've had a Homebase pot planted Christmas Tree for about five years now we bring inside for a fortnight each year. It's grown about a 12-18 inches in that time. Saved a load of money and a few trips to the shops.

[Wobbly John]

This...

Dug a Christmas tree up on the allotment & took it to my daughter's house, late this afternoon (therefore shaky, low-light, phone photo):


PC Plod: "Oi, where's your lights?"

WJ: "The lead wasn't long enough."

 

... was one of those 6" tall trees in little pots about 10 years ago.

I'm considering growing a load on the allotment to sell. Bare root saplings are about 30p each...



...if you buy 100.

[loadsabikes]

They will just get nicked!

[loadsabikes]

As you well know.

[Torslanda]

Buy one of each. 

That way, this years tree is already the right height, next years is sure to be there by 2014 and so on . . .

You could end up supplying the village with reusable Christmas trees!

[Wobbly John]

I have planted 50 Christmas trees today.

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!