Hi, guys!
With Thanksgiving behind us and Hanukkah coming to an end (sending light and love to all who celebrate 🕎), we’re entering prime Christmas-tree-shopping season.
Before you head out, here’s another vintage video from The Vault in which I explain the difference between Noble, Balsam and Fraser firs, and how to ensure you select a fresh tree that will survive the holidays, regardless of variety.
I’ve been hearing rumblings about Christmas tree supply chain issues so if you haven't yet bought one but plan to, I’d suggest aiming for sooner rather than later.
And now: The Great Real vs. Fake Debate
I’m often asked by folks who want to do right by the environment whether the annual purchase of a tree that’s been chopped down is better than buying an artificial tree once. And it’s quite a conundrum.
There are good arguments for both sides, so after hearing (reading) them, it will be up to you to take into account your buying and usage habits and decide which makes the most sense to you.
If you were to, say, walk into the woods, find a tree you like and chop it down yourself, that would have a negative effect on the environment because you would be removing an oxygen producer that is serving a very important role in the ecosystem. If, however, you purchase a live tree from a Christmas tree farm or retailer who obtains trees from one, the environmental impact mostly comes from growth support and transport.
Tree farms replace their annual harvests by planting more trees, and those new trees take many years to reach Christmas tree size. During those years, as the trees photosynthesize, they continually remove carbon dioxide from the air and release clean oxygen for us, all the while playing host to beneficial insects and serving as a pollution barrier.
Real trees decompose after they’re disposed of because they’re biodegradable. Dust to dust, as they say. Artificial trees, not so much at all.
Fake trees are made of PVC plastic in a manufacturing process that pollutes the environment, and they are mostly imported from China (traveling such a distance, in itself, has environmental implications of its own). And fakes can’t be recycled so the trees of Christmases past, present and future will be sitting in landfills for, well, maybe forever.
There’s an argument to be made that buying an artificial tree and keeping it for many years is kinder to the environment than buying even a farm-grown tree every year, as their care during the decade or so until they reach maturity requires the use of water resources, fertilization that has the potential to pollute soil and drinking water, and carbon-emitting trucking to transport them to a retailer near you.
And that argument has some merit.
So the long and the short of it is 🤷🏽
Personally, I’m Team Real Tree. I buy my Fraser firs from a reputable neighborhood nursery and at the end of the season, my husband removes all its branches, which I spread around the garden to protect plant roots over winter. The trunk sometimes spends winter outdoors and months later gets burned in the firepit; other times it gets put out with the trash. Having said that, I can’t guarantee I won’t one day get an artificial tree when the shopping and hauling become difficult or impractical.
Here’s some further reading if you’re interested in learning more.
💡 If you do one thing this week…
Start inspecting arborvitaes and junipers for bagworms. It’s nasty, but the best method of removal, should you find any, is to pick them off by hand and destroy them.
📬 Ask Jessica
DEAR JESSICA: Should trees be fed in the fall and if so, when? I have ornamental pears, crape myrtle and Japanese maples. — L. Schlageter
DEAR L: If your mature ornamental trees are healthy and thriving, there shouldn’t be any reason to fertilize them.
Too much fertilizer can result in reduced root growth and may make your trees more susceptible to drought. The best source of nutrients for trees comes from their fallen leaves and needles, which, when left on the soil beneath them, decompose into the best fertilizer available. It’s a perfect design and there's no need to mess with it.
In addition to leaving leaves under their trees, it’s a good idea to rake leaves from walkways and other areas into garden beds to serve as winter mulch for all your plants.
Acid-loving trees and shrubs, however, may need annual applications of pH-lowering fertilizers to help them benefit from nutrients already in the soil. If the soil pH is too high for rhododendrons, for example, the shrubs won’t thrive.
Never fertilize shrubs and trees during their first year. Trees planted more than one year ago but less than three or five years ago can benefit from an annual application of a slow-release fertilizer. In those cases, be sure to follow package directions for application rates and methods, and never apply more than recommended.
Fruit-producing trees, in general, should be fertilized in early spring.
Never fertilize trees that are showing signs of stress from infestation, drought or damage. It will exacerbate whatever is plaguing them.
👏 Sunday shoutout
Terri Wallace of Ridge, NY, snapped this photo of the vanilla strawberry hydrangea trees growing outside her home in August. I love the two-tone blooms on these!
Send in a photo of your garden (bonus points if you’re in it!) and you might be featured next!
📧 Send me your feedback!
I welcome your comments and suggestions, so please send them along — as well as any topics you’d like to see covered and questions you’d like answered in the Ask Jessica section.
👉👉If you’re enjoying this newsletter, why not share it with a gardening friend?
Hi, Jessica,
I’m new to your newsletter and am enjoying your weekly postings very much, finding them well written and informative. My husband planted several grapevines this past spring and is wondering if he should mulch them now. Any advice?
S. Masserwick