Maintaining a living Xmas tree w/ bonsai techniques

[cishepard]

I bought a 4’ spruce as a living Christmas tree last year and I want to keep it potted and pruned to use every year. It can live in my bonsai area and get regular/daily watering if need be.

Looking online to find out how to care for them, it seems like most sites are saying that after a couple of years, the trees outgrow the pots and need to be planted out (and not used as an indoor Christmas tree anymore), but surely that can’t be completely true, as evidenced by bonsai.

I think with yearly pruning and maybe third year repots and root reductions , the tree could stay in nice shape indefinitely. Do you agree?

My questions are these;

1. As you can see, the new buds have opened - is it too late for a repot this spring?
2. It is in a tall nursery can - I have a new decorative pot to put it in that is a bit bigger, so maybe I have a few years before I need to worry about it, anyway. Should I follow bonsai conifer principles and do a half bare root and plant in bonsai soil? Is bonsai soil a good idea in a large deep pot like this (maybe with a bit more organics than usual?)
3. The only ‘training’ techniques I’ve come across are to just shear them to shape - I’m hoping to spend some time doing more selective pruning instead and maybe guy wiring of branches to get them more horizontal.

Has anyone here maintained a Christmas tree in a pot for more than a few years? Can you see any flaws in my plan or have any other ideas that might help?

Looking forward to some discussion.

 

[PowerTap]

A few questions:
1. What species of spruce is this?
2. When you mean to reuse it, do you mean to bring it in for Christmas for a few weeks? If so this would be challenging because several weeks indoors is going to wake a tree up from the normal winter dormancy it should be in by mid December in BC.
3. What are your goals for the tree? Do you want to style it as a bonsai or maintain it to look like a Christmas tree?

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I've done this in the past.

Root pruning isn't necessary for about 6 years and neither is repotting. The more confined it stays, the slower the growth.

Yes, a couple weeks indoors is going to hurt it, but not enough to weaken it so much that it dies.

When watering these trees, keep in mind that they're not in bonsai soil. So watering once or twice a week can be enough, or too much in some cases even.

 

[cishepard]

A few questions:
1. What species of spruce is this?
2. When you mean to reuse it, do you mean to bring it in for Christmas for a few weeks? If so this would be challenging because several weeks indoors is going to wake a tree up from the normal winter dormancy it should be in by mid December in BC.
3. What are your goals for the tree? Do you want to style it as a bonsai or maintain it to look like a Christmas tree?

It is some cultivar of Picea abies, but I can’t find the tag - stays tall and narrow.
You bring in a living Christmas tree for a short time over the holidays. I had mine in for 8 days, straight from the nursery. It doesn’t seem to have effected it much.
I want it to stay essentially the same size it is now, with pruning to keep it in a nice conical shape, and have it in a more decorative pot. It will live in this pot outside all year except for that one week-10 days indoors.

So, @Wires_Guy_wires, maybe I should just leave it in the nursery can and set that into the decorative pot for a few years? How will I know when to repot? And if I did choose to repot, should I just use some kind of potting soil, or more of a gritty bonsai mix - with longevity in a pot as the main goal -?

 

[Paradox]

I haven't kept a spruce in a pot as a Christmas tree but I have kept Colorado blue spruce in a pot for at least 6 or 7 years.
Not to contradict Wires Guy but my preference would be treat it more like a pre bonsai and get it out of that nursery soil sooner rather than later.

I think its probably too late for this year but when it is the right time, I would put it into an Anderson flat with regular bonsai soil.

Then I would get a large and deep enough tray to put that flat into when you have the tree in the house for the holidays so you can continue to water it and not worry about water all over the floor.

I agree that it probably wouldn't have to be repotted often, maybe every 5 years or so just to refresh the soil and prune the roots'

I think it would be kind of fun to have a tree that you grow and use for a holiday tree every year.
Ive heard of a family that does it and they have had the same tree for like 10 years

 

[nuttiest]

I had a Eugenia topiary many years as a christmas tree. One year I wanted deadwood so I stripped a lot off one side. I had it for 10 years in the round plastic bowl pot so it was easy to put a skirt on. I didn't keep the cone shape so it is part bonsai part cloud topiary now.
I think your pot is fine and you can do many styles with it, like three tier for next year.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It is some cultivar of Picea abies, but I can’t find the tag - stays tall and narrow.
You bring in a living Christmas tree for a short time over the holidays. I had mine in for 8 days, straight from the nursery. It doesn’t seem to have effected it much.
I want it to stay essentially the same size it is now, with pruning to keep it in a nice conical shape, and have it in a more decorative pot. It will live in this pot outside all year except for that one week-10 days indoors.

So, @Wires_Guy_wires, maybe I should just leave it in the nursery can and set that into the decorative pot for a few years? How will I know when to repot? And if I did choose to repot, should I just use some kind of potting soil, or more of a gritty bonsai mix - with longevity in a pot as the main goal -?

Repotting can be done in multiple ways, and a non invasive transfer to a new pot and adding some fresh soil to give it more root space will not hurt it. Even if you'd do it now, or in the summer.
You're not cutting anything from the roots, so it shouldn't hurt.
I'd go for coco coir and some perlite, instead of potting soil so the roots don't have to cross a barrier between nursery soil and true bonsai soil. Coco coir is airy, which is a good trait to have in larger pots.

Keep in mind that it probably has been in potted culture for a decade now. So the soil isn't bad, and the growth looks healthy.
So I see no reason to consider any heavy adjustments to anything

 

[gooeytek]

Move Christmas outdoors!

 

[cishepard]

Move Christmas outdoors!

Indeed! After it’s week in the house, I moved it to the back porch with all it’s decorations intact, so that we continued to enjoy it : )