Question: I used a live Christmas tree this year and I want to plant it in the landscape. The plant is an Arizona Cypress called ‘Carolina Sapphire’. How large will this tree grow to at maturity and will it grow in our climate?
Answer: Balled-and-burlapped or container-grown Christmas trees can be planted out as landscape trees after Christmas. The sooner you can get it outside and in the ground the better. If you can not plant it right away at least move it out of doors to the cooler environment and keep it well watered. With care and planning, your Christmas tree will serve as a living memory for many years. I used a white pine the first year we lived in our current home and it is about 10 years old and still growing well. On the other hand my mother used a Norway Spruce many years ago and it struggled along for several years before dying at a rather young age. Needless to say some Christmas trees are more suitable to our climate than others. You may have problems with Norway Spruce, Hemlock and Firs but have good success with the Arizona Cypress you mentioned, White Pine, Virginia Pine, Leyland Cypress, Eastern Red Cedar, and Japanese Cedar.
When I lived in Mobile my home was next door to a large wholesale nursery. One December morning I was admiring some of their pyramidal shaped Foster hollies. I told the owner, Tom Dodd III that I thought it would make a great Christmas tree so he loaned it to me for the month and it did make a very nice tree and was no worse for the wear when I returned it in January. I got the idea from my father-in-law who always has a very unusual Christmas tree. A couple years ago he used a six foot tall Satsuma orange tree loaded with fruit. Another year he used a pear tree that was decorated with pears and pairs. For instance, he had a picture of a couple famous doctors and they of course were a “pair-a-docs”(paradox). All his Christmas quests enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what his ornaments represented and each year there is an anticipation of what kind of tree he will come up with.
Answer: Balled-and-burlapped or container-grown Christmas trees can be planted out as landscape trees after Christmas. The sooner you can get it outside and in the ground the better. If you can not plant it right away at least move it out of doors to the cooler environment and keep it well watered. With care and planning, your Christmas tree will serve as a living memory for many years. I used a white pine the first year we lived in our current home and it is about 10 years old and still growing well. On the other hand my mother used a Norway Spruce many years ago and it struggled along for several years before dying at a rather young age. Needless to say some Christmas trees are more suitable to our climate than others. You may have problems with Norway Spruce, Hemlock and Firs but have good success with the Arizona Cypress you mentioned, White Pine, Virginia Pine, Leyland Cypress, Eastern Red Cedar, and Japanese Cedar.
When I lived in Mobile my home was next door to a large wholesale nursery. One December morning I was admiring some of their pyramidal shaped Foster hollies. I told the owner, Tom Dodd III that I thought it would make a great Christmas tree so he loaned it to me for the month and it did make a very nice tree and was no worse for the wear when I returned it in January. I got the idea from my father-in-law who always has a very unusual Christmas tree. A couple years ago he used a six foot tall Satsuma orange tree loaded with fruit. Another year he used a pear tree that was decorated with pears and pairs. For instance, he had a picture of a couple famous doctors and they of course were a “pair-a-docs”(paradox). All his Christmas quests enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what his ornaments represented and each year there is an anticipation of what kind of tree he will come up with.
Back to the original question you asked about Arizona Cypress. You can expect this plant to reach 20 to 30 feet tall, 8 feet wide. It has a very rapid growth rate while young. Plant it in full sun and a well-drained soil. It thrives in hot and dry conditions once established but needs supplemental water the first year. Make sure you remove the bag if it is in a synthetic burlap bag. If you are not sure I would play it safe and take the bag off completely. If it is in a container take it out and bump it on the ground a few times to get off a lot of the loose bark. Plant at the same depth it was growing because setting this plant to deep can be deadly because it needs good drainage.
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