Grow your own Christmas tree🎄

Picea pungens Blue star Christmas tree

Written and updated by Tammy 8th November 2024

A Real Christmas Tree-My Blue Star Tradition

As kids growing up, the excitement of Christmas always became real when we were packed into the family station wagon and taken for a Sunday drive out along the back roads, looking for that perfect Christmas tree to lay claim to. A quick look around to make sure the coast was clear, then snip! a lower branch was chopped off and away we went, loaded up with our tree engulfing every corner of the car.

The smell of fresh pine needles would fill the house, and even today that fragrance brings back the happiest memories of Christmas.

These days, when you walk into stores, Christmas trees line the shelves in every shape and colour from tiny fibre-optic novelties to tall imitation firs almost convincing enough to pass for the real thing.

But what if I told you that, for not a lot of effort or dollars, you could have a real Christmas tree of your own complete with that unmistakable pine fragrance?

🌿My Blue Star Christmas Tree

The tree in the image above is my Picea pungens ‘Blue Star’. I bought it as a tiny little thing, barely a foot tall, for $12.95 about seven years ago.

Every spring, it bursts out with fresh new blue-green foliage just in time to come indoors for a few weeks to be dressed in tinsel and ornaments.

🎁 About the Blue Star (Colorado Spruce)

Native to North America and commonly known as a Colorado Spruce, Picea pungens ‘Blue Star’ is a relatively slow-growing conifer, reaching heights of no more than 1.5–2 metres in ten years. (As you can see mines about 1.5 m tall now)

In their natural habitat, they can exceed 25 m, but rest assured that potential is easily contained in a pot or controlled garden setting.

🌞Care and Growing Tips

• Light: Full sun to part shade.

• Soil: Rich, free-draining, and neutral to slightly acidic.

• Water: Give a deep drink before bringing it inside for Christmas. Keep the soil lightly moist but not soggy.

• Pests: They’re tough rarely bothered by much at all.

When bringing your tree indoors for the festive season, choose a bright position and avoid over-decorating heavy branches. After Christmas, transition it back outdoors gradually over several days, first to shade, then part shade, then back to its usual sunny spot.

🌲 Other Options

If the Blue Star isn’t your style, try Picea glauca, a lovely emerald-green conifer with classic Christmas colour. You can really make a Christmas tree out of almost any plant, let your creativity run wild!

Most garden centres and nurseries will soon have Picea varieties available as living Christmas trees.

❤️ Why I Love a Real Tree

My kids laugh at my sentimental ways, but I think a living tree is so much nicer than a plastic one. And who knows, maybe my little tree will still be around long after me, and my children’s children can bring it inside each year and proudly say, “This was our great-grandma’s tree.” ❤️🎄

Happy gardening😘🌸

My Tree in all her glory

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