I have a Christmas tree in a pot. What to do with it?

[NinNinJin]

I have picked one by the bins today. It is so pretty and looks very healthy.
Can I save it? Keep it in a pot or plant in the garden? If so when? We have a south east facing garden. And a bit of a north west facing front garden. Both have space.
Of If I keep it in a pot do I need a bigger one?
Anything to be aware of?

Here is the culprit

I’d re-pot it for now, Into a bigger pot, while you decide where you want it

Yes, keep it! We have two that come in every year for Christmas to be decorated and live the rest of the year outside. They are both very happy.

That's lovely, I'd put it in a bigger pot.

They get thirsty in summer, so a bigger pot will help stop it drying out. And generally they don't like to be too hot, so front garden is probably best.

Do they grow enormous?
If I plant it in the garden are we risking having to move the house later?

Depends exactly what species it is, but probably huge.

I keep mine in its pot but plant the pot in a shady garden bed. Then it’s easy to dig the pot out to have in the house the next Christmas

As long as you’re not in a Conservation Area you can cut it down if it gets too big

Repot and make sure it doesn't dry out through the year. Ours sits on our patio January to November then brought round to front of house for December at which point I decorate it.

This is one of the species of tree which can be grown as bonsai, so that means you can actually prune it to keep it in bounds. Just cut the leading shoots of each branch off, back to a pair of side branches, and it will bush out a lot more as well. You can also take the top out in the same way. It will produce another top leading shoot (or several) and you just remove any growth you don't want.

We usually have a potted tree at Christmas and it's about 50/50 whether it will survive for the following year. Some things which seem to help:

• re-pot into a bigger pot as you've already suggested
• keep it in a shady corner of the patio, and sit the pot on a plant saucer so that any water is kept near the roots

TBH the biggest impact on success of keeping it for another year seems to be whether it was pot grown originally, or just uprooted and put into a pot, but there's no way of you knowing that now. The one you've found looks pretty healthy.

If you keep it in a pot it won't grow loads between this year and next.

I have one that I bought 3 years ago. I had it indoors the first Christmas but now leave it out by the front door and put lights on it at Christmas. It’s a shady spot and I never water it!

I've found if you put the pot in sunlight it dies, even if you water it lots. If you put it in shade it survives.

One of mine eventually died as the roots became waterlogged, so I’d recommend a pot with drainage holes rather than a solid planter.

Very helpful advice here. Thank you. So front garden it is. And a big pot. Not sure whether to water it or not.

By the way? What soil shall I use? Does it need sand?

Yes, I agree with putting it in a pot with a drainage hole and a saucer

I just use all purpose potting compost

Just to add this is in the Summer. Sunlight wouldn't be a problem in winter

Perhaps I am a bit of a grinch but I wouldn't keep it. If planted into the soil it will get too big. They aren't in the least bit beautiful or interesting as garden plants - you could plant a much lovelier tree instead.
And In a pot it will be frequently parched and starving, getting weak and ugly and blowing over
Perhaps just for one or two Christmases it could make an endearing return, but sooner or later you will start to think of it in the same way as the John Lewis family felt about their monster Venus flytrap on the day they threw it out to die.

25 years ago I bought a very small, bare rooted but freshly dug Norwegian Spruce and shoved it in soil in a pot, decorated it and it seemed fine after Christmas. So I put it outside, left it in the pot for a year or so, barely watered it and then planted it at the bottom of the garden.

Here's the result. Yes it's big but I love it. It provides dense shelter for birds and is thriving. It isn't in the way there so I guess it depends on how much room you have and what's adjacent.
They don't all end up parched and starving!

Send it to the King and ask him to look after it for you. He says he’s very keen on potted Christmas trees.

I don’t know how you tell the difference but Xmas trees in pots are either pot grown or potted (with the latter - which are grown in the ground and dug up and put into a pot - there may not be a sufficient root structure to help the tree thrive). I’ve also heard that some potted trees have their roots boiled before potting to ensure they can’t survive, because capitalism. So if some trees do better than others it might be because of this rather than gardening conditions.

If it stays in the pot for heavens sake move it to the shade and water it all through summer. My potted Xmas tree had a near miss last summer.

Tbh, I'd keep it in that size pot so it doesn't grow too big. Then it can come in again next year.

@Lifeinlists That is an absolute Beauty!

My mum planted a Metasequoia 40 years ago as a bonsai she didn't want as a house plant. Currently taller than the house and all the pets since have been buried under it along with ashes of loved ones.

Planting a tree is doing a service for the future.