Alt. Tannenbaum, Alt. Tannenbaum
Is there a more pitiful sight in the weeks after Christmas than seeing abandoned trees lying splayed behind dustbins, slumped on kerbs or propped up against random walls down back alleys? Just days before, they were shimmering in all their lit-up glory, adorned with jewels, adored by old and young alike, the centre of the room. Like an Instagram star on their descendancy, it’s a rough fall from grace.
Luckily, there are plenty of alternatives to the cut Christmas-tree-in-a-stand situation, without having to resort to a synthetic fake white tinsel tree that you store in the loft and unfurl year after year, until it’s finally just a gathering of wires.
Read on for our top eco-alternatives to festive arbors. With these suggestions, there comes the added bonus of not having to avoid brushing within elbow distance of the branches of your tree, in case the whole thing ejects its sharp little points in your direction, and getting needles stuck in your socks for weeks before the big day even arrives.
A little word from the eco-wise though: if comes down to a choice between a fake tree and a cut pine, always go for the cut pine. The fake tree will be hanging around a long time after you’re gone; the fake tree will at least go back into the earth somewhere along the way.
Norfolk Island Pine
If Christmas just isn’t Christmas for you without your own mini forest fledgling, then why not invest in a living Christmas tree? Norfolk Island Pines, also known as star pines (festive) or living Christmas trees (factual), are very slow growing so they can grow old with you for all your Christmases to come. In the wild they can reach 60m tall, growing 60cm a year, but they won’t grow as fast or as tall inside. To keep things exciting, they’re not actually pines at all, they’re from the tropics, so unseasonally they don’t like the cold that much and hate an icy wind.
They’ll be happy outside for most of the year, but once we hit winter, bring them inside to a well-lit spot to welcome in the festivities. Keep up the humidity too with a spray once a week. Their soil needs to feel just moist, and feed them every couple of weeks during spring and summer. Young trees have awl-shaped leaves (they basically look like pine needles) but they won’t fall off and spike your feet. Older trees have more densely packed leaves. They’re neat little symmetrical plants that grow in a perfect triangular shape (no lopsided branches to hide round the back) and look great from all angles, so you can go wild with the baubles.
Twigs and branches
At Grace & Thorn, you know we love to bring a bit of the outside in, so get yourself down to the woods and lug back a few fallen branches. Put them in a large vase or jug and adorn tastefully with a few single colour decorations or a single twist of white lights – or stick it to Scandi and bring back the paper-chain.
Dress up your houseplants
If, like us, your home is already overgrown with plants (and especially if you live with some that have ended up, shall we say, a bit bigger than you’d expected), here’s their moment to shine! Dress them up in all their glittering glory, and stick a shimmering star on top. Let them join in the festive fun and show off their winter attire. Tie ribbons round their branches, nestle robins among their leaves, loop baubles and garlands wherever you can, stick gold paper to your cacti spikes. And don’t forget to Christmastise their pots too.
