Can you plant a live Christmas tree after the holidays? Yes, if it has roots and a hole dug in fall

Yes: a Christmas tree sold with its roots, in a pot or a burlapped ball, can be planted after the holidays if it spends a week or less indoors. It needs time in an unheated garage or porch before and after that week, and a hole dug before the ground froze. A cut tree has no roots and cannot grow. Fraser fir, the top-ranked Christmas tree, thrives only where summers stay cool, and eastern red cedar takes the heat.

Which trees survive the move

Any winter-hardy evergreen can serve if it also suits your summers. Three natives we grow are among them:

• Fraser fir: it wants a cool, moist site and does not stand summer heat. Zones 4 to 7, 30 to 55 feet.
• Red spruce: it needs a cool, moist climate and dislikes summer heat. Zones 2 to 6, 60 to 75 feet.
• Eastern red cedar: it takes heat, cold and drought in full sun, but not wet ground. Zones 2 to 9, 30 to 50 feet.

In South Carolina, white pine and the spruces grow only in the upper Piedmont and mountains, while eastern red cedar grows statewide. We do not grow eastern white pine or the Norway and Colorado blue spruces.

Before Christmas: the hole and the garage

Dig the hole in fall, before the ground freezes, a foot or two wider than the root ball you plan to buy. Fill it with straw, and store the soil where it cannot freeze. Buy a small tree a week or two before it comes indoors, since a wet ball is heavy and a small tree transplants more easily. Keep it in an unheated garage or porch above freezing, with the ball moist.

Indoors for a week at most

Set the ball in a watertight tub on gravel, in a cool room away from heat vents and the fireplace. Keep it moist but never flooded: crushed ice spread on the ball waters it easily. Use LED lights, which give off less heat.

Most guides allow 7 to 10 days, but Penn State Extension calls four or five days ideal and one week the most. A longer stay wakes the tree too soon:

“The longer it is in the house, the greater the chance the tree will start to grow buds, which will not survive when you plant the tree out in the cold.” (Missouri Department of Conservation, Live Christmas Trees)

Planting it after the holidays

After Christmas, give the tree several days back in the garage or porch. A potted or balled tree can go in whenever the ground is not frozen, so plant on a mild day:

1. Pull the straw out of the hole.
2. Take off the pot, or the burlap, twine and wire basket.
3. Set the root flare level with the ground or slightly above.
4. Fill in with the stored soil, water well and mulch heavily.

Water weekly through the first two summers for fir and spruce, and the first summer for red cedar. A tree decorated where it will grow skips the hardest part:

“If the work of bringing a live tree in and out of the house seems excessive, consider planting the tree directly outside and decorating it there.” (University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Live Christmas trees can be enjoyed indoors now, planted outdoors later)

Choose the spot before the tree

Pick a spot in sun, on ground that drains, with room for the tree at full height. The planting-site check grades a species against your zone, sun and soil moisture. Blue Whale Trees grows all three natives above from seed and ships live plants only while dormant, in February through May and October and November. If the ground froze before you dug, the tree waits for spring in the unheated garage, much as a sapling in a pot waits.

Common questions

Can you plant a fresh cut Christmas tree?

No: a cut tree has no roots, so it will not grow in the ground. It can still stand in the yard as cover for wildlife.

How long can a live Christmas tree stay indoors?

A week at most, and four or five days is better, since a longer stay can wake the buds into growth that freezes outside.

Can you plant a live Christmas tree in January?

Yes, on a mild day, into a hole dug in fall and kept under straw. If the ground froze before you dug, keep it in an unheated garage until spring.

Sources

• Live Christmas Trees: Missouri Department of Conservation: the hole dug before the ground freezes, covered with straw, and its soil kept frost-free, buying a week or two ahead and staging in an unheated garage or shed above freezing, the weight of a watered root ball, 7 to 10 days indoors, and the quotation on buds that wake indoors.
• Caring for a Living Christmas Tree: Penn State Extension (Denise D’Aurora, 2023): four to five days indoors as ideal and one week as the most, a hole 1 to 2 feet wider than the root ball, the soil stored in a shed or garage, the weight of a damp root ball, LED lights, removing the burlap, wire and twine, and storing the tree unheated until spring when the ground froze first.
• Alternative Christmas Trees: Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (Aaron Steil, reviewed 2024): any winter-hardy evergreen as a living tree, the hole dug before the ground freezes, small trees that transplant more easily, a cool place before and after the stay indoors, 7 to 10 days and buds that break dormancy, a mild winter day to plant, and heavy mulch.
• How to care for a living Christmas tree: Illinois Extension (Richard Hentschel, 2020): four to five days indoors, the root flare at ground level or slightly higher, and removing the burlap or container and twine.
• Live Christmas trees can be enjoyed indoors now, planted outdoors later: University of Georgia Cooperative Extension (Paul Pugliese, 2015): 7 to 10 days, the tub on gravel, crushed ice, a cool spot away from heat, removing burlap and wire baskets, the root flare slightly above grade, a sunny, well-drained site with room for the grown tree, and the quotation on decorating the tree outside.
• Living Christmas Trees: Clemson Cooperative Extension, HGIC 1751, with HGIC 1754, Repurposing Christmas Trees To Benefit Wildlife: white pine and the spruces only in the upper Piedmont and mountains, eastern red cedar statewide in full sun, tolerating drought and poor soil, LED lights for their lower heat, and a tree without roots that will not grow but can stand for wildlife.
• Living Christmas Trees: UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: 7 to 10 days indoors, and care and regular water for at least two years while the roots catch up with the top.
• Abies fraseri: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox: Fraser fir wild at 4,000 to 6,700 feet, ranked the top Christmas tree species, and intolerant of heat.