Tis the Season for Living Christmas Trees

So, there I was this afternoon, wandering around Green Acres Nursery in Sacramento, checking out the winter vegetables. Even though it's mid-December, lots of veggies can go in the ground now as transplants here, including asparagus, bok choy, corn salad, garlic, kale, leaf lettuce, onions and slips of white potatoes.


Then I overheard a loud discussion between a boy and his father off in the distance. "Dad, let's get one of these as our Christmas tree!" said the son, excitedly, fondling an incense cedar in a five gallon container. "No," replied Dad. "Let's go out front and get a real Christmas tree."

Out in the front of the store? You guessed it. CUT Christmas trees.

Junior had the better idea. Oddly enough, I kept my mouth shut. Until now.

If chosen wisely and treated correctly, a living Christmas tree can thrive in your yard for generations. The main thing to remember when choosing a living Christmas tree: pick a variety that will flourish in our area. Among the conifers available at local nurseries that will do well outdoors in most areas of Northern and Central California after their indoor holiday use:

• Italian Stone Pine. A good choice for the interior valleys. Can take heat and drought when established. Has a moderate rate of growth to 60 feet.
 




 

• Aleppo, Mondell or Afghan Pine. Also called Pinus eldarica or Pinus halepensis. These evergreens can take sun and wind. As an added bonus for those who own acreage, these pines are good for windbreaks and erosion control. Rapid growers, these pines with gray-green needles can get to 30 to 60 feet tall with a 20 to 30 foot spread. They aren't that thirsty, either; a deep, twice a month watering is all they require during the summer.

• Colorado Blue Spruce. Can take sun, shade and cold, but is susceptible to spider mites. Likes most soils, as long as they're well-drained. This tree with the bluish needles is a slow grower that will eventually get 60 to 80 feet tall with a 40 to 50 foot spread.

• Deodar Cedar. A tree that actually prefers clay soil, as long as there's no standing water. This evergreen can take sun, wind and heat. It's a rapid grower that will reach 50-80 feet with a 40-foot spread. Aptly known as, "The California Christmas Tree".

 

• Incense Cedar. Not a true cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), but this California native tree will truly perform well in Northern California yards. Although a slow grower at first, the incense cedar can get 80 feet tall, with a 15 foot spread at the base. IT can take our hot summers and poor soil, and doesn't require a lot of water. It''s best characteristic: the wonderful aroma on a hot summer day.

Coast Redwoods, 1991

• Coast Redwood. Give this tree plenty of room in the yard. The coast redwood can get 70 feet tall with a spread at the base of 30 feet. It can take our sun, but needs frequent, deep watering.

Coast Redwoods, 2011

 

Some tips for caring for a living Christmas tree:

• Don't keep it in the house for more than a week.

• Keep it away from heating vents, wood stoves and fireplaces.

• Water the tree every day while it's in the house. A good way to insure a slow, thorough watering is to dump a tray or two of ice cubes into its container.

• Decorate it with the smaller, cooler, flashing bulbs.

• The tree can remain in a large container for a number of years, but you may need a furniture dolly to move it in and out of the house.

• Marginal Living Christmas Trees:

 

Given a little care, the dwarf Alberta Spruce can survive as an outdoor living Christmas tree here. Give it afternoon shade for best results. 

Limber Pines (Pinus flexilis), native to mountainous areas, tend to revert to rounded tops as they age. The exception is the "Vanderwolf Pyramid" variety, which keeps its Christmas tree shape. 

Another one to be wary of is the Grand Fir (Abies grandis). This tree could soon overwhelm a small yard, reaching heights of 200 feet. 

Other borderline trees that may have trouble here in the Valley include the Tempelhof cypress (Chamaecyparis obtusa) and the Blue Point Juniper (doesn't like too much water or slow draining soil).

 

At the top of Santa's horticulturally naughty list is the Monterey Pine, which is better for coastal environments; even in its native environment, Monterey Pines are in decline due to pine pitch canker. Here in the valley, the Monterey Pine is susceptible to pests, diseases and sulks in our summer heat.

    



Another Christmas-tree type plant that is widely available here is the Norfolk Island Pine. Known as the Hawaiian Christmas Tree, this is best planted outdoors...in Hawaii. Here, it makes a good house plant year round.

 


When is a Christmas tree not really a tree? When it is a Rosemary plant, an evergreen shrub that's been pruned into a pyramidal shape. This herb is a great addition for its culinary and bee attracting qualities (blooms in the winter and spring), but would require constant shearing to keep it looking like a Christmas tree...uh, bush.
 

Plants for Privacy

 

 "What can I plant to get some privacy?" That's a common question to the garden radio shows, especially from homeowners with small yards...and neighboring two-story homes.

 Here are some screening plants that can be a perfect fit for the Central Valley, lower foothills and the Bay Area of California. 

For quicker privacy,  don't install these plants on the outer edges of your property.

Plant them closer to the area you want to keep private.

For large yards, consider coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens). These evergreen trees can quickly overwhelm an area, getting over 50 feet tall and 15 feet wide at the base. Planted six or seven feet apart, coast redwoods will quickly

become a good screen. Be sure to plant coast redwoods at least 10 feet away from any fence or building.

Want a tree that looks like a willow without all the

problems? Try the Australian willow (Geijera parviflora). This evergreen tree with long, narrow, drooping leaves gets about 25 feet tall and 20 feet wide.

Incense Cedar (Calocedrus decurrens) 50-90' tall, 40-50' spread; evergreen; slow growth; takes heat, wind, drought.

 


Sweet Bay (Laurus nobilis) 30-40' tall, 20-40' spread.

Use its aromatic leaves for seasoning. Takes well to pruning.

Good container tree.

 
For a big yard, try the Calabrian pine (Pinus brutia or Pinus halpensis 'brutia' ) 30-80' tall, 15-25' spread.

For narrow areas:

Fern Pine (Podocarpus gracilior). 20-60 ft. tall, 10-20 ft. wide.

Thuja occidentalis "Emerald": 15 ft. tall, 3-4 ft. wide.

Juniperus scopulorum "Skyrocket": 15-20 ft. tall; 2-3 ft. wide. BUT...junipers need easy draining soil and can suffer from a wide variety of maladies, including spider mites, aphids, twig borers and blight.

SHRUBS FOR PRIVACY

For homes with planting areas about 15 feet wide, choose among these taller shrubs for privacy that  do well in our area. Plant them at least six feet away from any building or fence.

These are minimum hassle plants that will give your yard some privacy. All of these require full sun and regular water:

• Photinia (Photinia x fraseri). There's a reason you see these shrubs everywhere around here: photinia is a fast growing shrub whose established green leaves are complemented by the new, reddish-colored growth this time of year. Photinia makes an excellent privacy screen, getting eventually to 15 feet tall with an equal spread. For a smaller, slower growing variety, try the "Indian Princess". To get photinia to spread, pinch back new growth in the spring to encourage it to bush out.

• Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus). This plant, which produces red, brush-like flowers throughout the year, can take our heat and poor soils. Bottlebrush is fast growing and easy to train. Its flowers are attractive to bees and hummingbirds; so, people with aversions or allergies to bee stings should avoid this plant. On the other hand, if you're looking for a shrub that can get as tall as 15 feet that will keep the hummingbirds in your yard, the bottlebrush is for you.

• Evergreen Euonymus (Euonymus japonica). This plant gets 8-10 feet tall, and is considered a real garden "toughie". Euonymus can take lots of heat as well as poor soil. Many euonymus varieties have glossy, leathery, all-green leaves. But there are varieties that have more leaf color, such as the aureo-variegata, which has leaves with splashes of yellow surrounded by a green margin.

• New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax). Any plant that can thrive in our south Sacramento County yard, an area that gets heavy wind, high heat and can still prosper in our rocky, clay hardpan gets my vote for plant of the year. Our New Zealand flax plants not only survive in those conditions, but came through like champs during the extensive backyard excavation, grading and remodeling work that took place near their roots three years ago. New Zealand flax can get to nine feet high with a six to eight foot spread. The long, sword-shaped vertical leaves have a brownish red color; other flaxes have colors that range from purplish-bronze to yellow. New Zealand flax works well as a screening plant, hiding unattractive (yet necessary) backyard equipment such as swimming pool pumps and filters.

• Clumping Bamboo. Good screening Bamboo varieties recommended by Madman Bamboo of Sacramento:
Bambusa multiplex "Golden Goddess"
B. multiplex "Alphonse Karr"
B. olhammii "Giant Clumping Timber Bamboo"


VINES FOR PRIVACY

For narrow areas, a vine may be what you need for privacy. Construct a sturdy trellis, perhaps on a short wall or fence. 

A good, evergreen vine for that trellis in full sun is Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens). It produces yellow flowers in the spring. 

Other evergreen vines to consider include:

crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), 

evergreen clematis, 

violet trumpet vine (Clytostoma callistegioides), 

common winter creeper (Euonymus fortunei radicans),

lacevine (Fallopia baldschuanica), 

jasmine, 

trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), 

mattress vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa),

passion vine (Passiflora jamesonii), 

potato vine (Solanum laxum), 

and star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides).

Potato Vine