We hope that you will join us this holiday season and let us help you celebrate. 
Getting that traditional centerpiece of the holiday season – a Christmas tree – may be harder this year. Between wildfires in the northwest, extreme drought and supply chain and labor issues that have beleaguered most businesses, trees will be scarce this year.
Warner’s Nursery has been lucky enough to secure both cut and potted trees from our supplier. Live (potted) Austrian and Colorado Spruces are already available, and we’ll be getting Douglas Fir, Noble Fir and Nordman Fir cut trees shortly before Thanksgiving.
There are benefits to each type of tree. You can enjoy your cut tree longer in the house (a live tree really should only be indoors about a week). On the other hand, a live tree can be planted and enjoyed outdoors for years to come.
Here are some tips for each one:
While Christmas trees are usually available the week of Thanksgiving, people often hold off purchasing a cut one until closer to the holiday, afraid it will dry out before Christmas. A few simple steps, however, will ensure that your tree stays fresh throughout the season.
- Before placing indoors, spray your tree with a product like CloudCover, a harmless, transparent film that reduces water loss, keeping tree needles fresh and moist.
- Make a fresh cut of at least a half inch off the trunk of the tree to allow the tree to take up water. Your tree needs to be set up immediately after making this fresh cut, within 15 minutes at the most!
- Once the stand is mounted and your tree is properly situated (far away from heater ducts and fireplaces), fill the water tray with lukewarm water. Check the water level in your tree stand daily, ensuring the trunk is immersed in water. You can also add a preservative like Keeps-It-Green to the water to keep the tree fresher longer.
- For living trees, proper care is even more important. First, you need to acclimate your tree. We suggest placing the tree outside in partial sunlight (possibly on a porch) for one week prior to taking it indoors, and remember to water it daily.
- The day before you bring it into the house, hose it down with water to remove dust and insects. Again, we suggest also spraying the tree with CloudCover to protect against dehydration.
- Once inside, set your tree in a large tray to catch overflow and protect your floors. It should be situated close to a window for light and far away from heating ducts or fireplaces that could sap its moisture.
- Continue to water your tree daily, but not quite as deeply as you did when it was outside – you don’t want your living tree to be standing in a tray full of water! Add a few ice cubes to keep the tree cool and prevent it from breaking dormancy.
As we mentioned earlier, your living Christmas tree can only remain indoors for about seven days; otherwise, it might break dormancy and then will not survive outdoors. After that week, place your tree in a shady spot and out of the wind until you’re ready to plant. We suggest the north or east side of your home, as trees can be wind-burned and are prone to sun scald if left on the south or west side of a house.
Thoroughly water the tree immediately after transferring outdoors; then, once a day for the first week; then, once a week thereafter. If the tree is to be left in a pot temporarily (for example, if the ground is frozen), water every three to five days, but remember that you should plant the tree as soon as possible.
In addition to Christmas trees, Warner’s Nursery will have other décor items for your home, including wreaths, garland and poinsettias. We also have indoor bulb plants that you can “coax” to bloom like Amaryllis and Paper White Narcissus.
We hope that you will join us this holiday season and let us help you celebrate. Come by, grab a nice warm cup of coffee or cocoa from Dottie’s Garden Coffee Shoppe – located in the heart of our nursery – and stroll our tree lot to find the perfect tree for you.
Happy Gardening and Happy Holidays! FBN
By Misti Warner-Andersen
Misti Warner-Andersen is the manager of Warner’s Nursery & Landscape Co., located at 1101 E. Butler Ave. in Flagstaff. To contact Warner’s Nursery, call 928-774-1983.
