When it came to choosing a Christmas tree this year it was natural enough that I would try to make it coincide with my interest in bonsai. Since I live on my own in a small flat anyway there was never any chance that I was going to be getting a massive tree. I had even half-seriously thought about decorating my ficus retusa and making that my Christmas tree.
In the end the solution to my problem came yesterday when I went for a ramble around some shopping centres in Sligo with Michelle. The town has changed tremendously since my time there many years ago and since we had a bit of time yesterday I wanted to have a look around some of the new developments there.
Every time I go back to Sligo I'm amazed by all of the new roads and buildings. It's almost as if they were waiting for me to leave before they started to fix the place up.
One of these new developments is Sligo Retail Park in Carraroe which is just next door to the Sligo Park Hotel. It really is an amazing development as far as I'm concerned. It is one of those times when I get to use those immortal words: "I can remember when this was all fields".
During the course of our wanderings around the Retail Park I came across this miniature Christmas tree in Homebase for a reasonable €15. It stands at 18 inches tall and came pre-decorated. I may or may not add lights to it. I haven't examined its roots yet but it is planted in good moist compost and looks to be in good condition.
My plan, all going well, is that once Christmas is over I will take this tree and plant it outside in an environment that is more natural to it. That is depending on it surviving the next month indoors and having good roots but at least it has a better chance of survival than all the other Christmas Trees which have been chopped down to be brought indoors. It just strikes me as being more in the Christmas spirit to bring a living tree indoors and then to leave it back to its natural environment after the festive season is over.
My Bonsai Christmas Tree
Monday, December 3, 2007Posted by Sean McGoldrick Monday, December 3, 2007 7:45 AM
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2 comments:
Hello there Sean.
Nice touch with the sustainable Christmas tree.
Don't forget to Occasionally mist the leaves using a spray bottle filled with rainwater, this action helps to prevent them drying out and shrivelling up.
When you go to plant it outside, carry out the transition gradually, for example... a week in the hallway followed by a week in a sheltered area of the garden before planting.
This will go some way towards preventing plant shock.
Keep up the good blogging work,
James Kilkelly from http://www.irishgardeners.com/
Hi James,
Thanks for the advice about the misting. I already have a couple of bonsai trees which I mist regularly but it is of course worth mentioning for the benefit of anyone else reading this.
I'm grateful for the advice about moving the tree outside gradually. I haven't thought too much about how I'll do that yet but you're right about it being better to break the climate change to it gradually.
I've just visited your site at irishgardeners.com. I'm definitely adding that one to my bookmarks!
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