Save Money by Having a Live Christmas Tree

In their December print edition, This Old House magazine gives a great, "green" money saving idea:

Use a live tree as your Christmas tree.

They tell how to find, transport, care for, and ultimately plant a live evergreen. Basically, you find a tree you want in your yard (eventually), take it inside for a few days and use it as a Christmas tree (the roots are bound in a bag and placed in a container), and when you're done with it, you take it outside and plant it. If you were going to buy a Christmas tree anyway and wanted an outside tree too, buying one tree and using it for both purposes certainly saves you a bit of money.

They don't have the article itself online, but the do offer some thoughts on how to select a live Christmas tree for your region.

It really is a great idea -- something I've heard of but never done. The downside: you can only have the tree indoors for 10 days or so. Otherwise it starts to bud and then transporting it back outside can harm the tree.

Anyone out there ever had a live Christmas tree?

Comments

[Mrs. Micah]

We're not having a tree at all, but a live one does sound really cool.

[Kc]

We did this a couple of years when I was a kid. My parents wanted some extra trees in the yard, and this was a great way to do it. As far as I know, one of the trees is still alive (we moved 10 years ago), and is pretty big. I always liked planting the tree as a family, too.

[blank]

I have two old live Christmas trees in the back yard of my house. I live in the northeastern US. Please be careful where you plant the trees after. My two cut off the septic tank from the leaching field with their roots. It was a $20,000.00 fix! The trees are gorgeous and we decorate them outside every year!

[Lady K]

We did this several times at my parents' house in Upstate New York. Sometimes we had to put the tree in a large container when it was moved outside because the ground was already frozen. It was planted as soon as a shovel could penetrate the ground.

[Austin Williams]

Great idea! I don't want a dying and drying tree in my house.
Watch what happens when a spark hits a Christmas tree: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPyrJbKJpIY