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6 Live Christmas Tree Ideas for Your Front Porch
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Susan Martin
In my garden stands three huge Green Giant arborvitae trees that visitors often remark on. “Where did you get those magnificent trees?” They started as live Christmas trees, I tell them! Each one began as a potted tree purchased in November and sat on my front porch through the winter with its twinkling lights until I planted it in the spring.
Maybe you’ve considered using a live tree as part of your décor, too. Need a few pointers on how to do so? Here are a few things to consider:
- If you want the tree to survive winter in the pot on your porch, choose one that is one or two zones hardier than your USDA hardiness zone. Learn more about overwintering hardy plants in containers.
- It’s alright to use a young specimen of a tree that will eventually grow very large since you will only be using it for one season in a container.
- Water your potted tree enough to keep the soil moist until it freezes. If it doesn’t freeze where you live, keep the soil moist all winter if rain or snow doesn’t take care of it for you.
- String lights and ornaments won’t hurt the tree but skip the spray glitter or paint if you plan on keeping the tree for planting in your landscape later.
- Once the holidays are over, you can either plant the tree in your landscape right away if you live in a mild climate or wait until the ground thaws in the spring. If you don’t have room for it in your landscape, consider gifting it to a friend or local charity.
Using live Christmas trees instead of artificial ones not only helps to support your local greenhouses and garden centers but natural trees will continue to benefit wildlife long after the holidays and for many years to come in your landscape.
6 Evergreens to Use as Live Christmas Trees
Perfect for narrow entryways where there’s not much space on either side of the door, this ultra-skinny arborvitae is the “pencil tree” of the Christmas tree world. It’ll stay narrow once planted in your landscape, too, so you can use it in that narrow bed next to your house or as a focal point out in the landscape. Hardy in zones 3-8, full sun to part shade, matures to 15-20’ tall x 12-18” wide.
North Pole® Arborvitae (Thuja)
Santa would certainly approve of this choice! This fast growing arborvitae has a perfect pyramidal shape like a Christmas tree and since it is hardy all the way down to zone 3, it can overwinter in most climates easily as a potted tree. Since it grows wider than Sting® arborvitae, you can use it in a larger porch pot. This beautiful evergreen tree keeps its dark green color year round and resists burning in the winter. Hardy in zones 3-8, full sun to part shade, matures to 10-15’ tall x 3-5’ wide.
Castle Spire® blue holly (Ilex x meserveae)
Have a holly jolly Christmas this year with Castle Spire blue holly! With the pointy leaves and red berries you love about hollies, this tree oozes holiday tradition. Plus, its pyramidal form lends itself well to use as a potted tree. Once planted in your garden, it grows quite large so you’ll have plenty of stems to harvest for holiday decor for years to come. Hardy in zones 5-7, full sun to part shade, matures to 8-10’ tall x 3-4’ wide.
Sky Box® Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)
You might mistake this evergreen holly for a boxwood since its small, dark green, glossy leaves look very similar. However, Sky Box Japanese holly has a much narrower, conical form that makes it more useful as a live Christmas tree. Feeling creative? Turn it into a topiary! In the garden, this tree thrives in well-drained, acidic soil but can also handle drier soils for a bit if it doesn’t rain. Hardy in zones 5-8, full sun to part shade, matures to 4-5’ tall x 2-3’ wide.
Aquavita™ Juniper (Juniperus virginiana)
The bright icy blue foliage of this beautiful native evergreen makes it ideal for winter decorating projects, whether as a potted tree or as cut branches for arrangements. With a softly pyramidal form that won’t grow too wide, it works perfectly in containers or as a hedge or accent in the landscape where it is deer resistant. Like most junipers, it is very heat and drought tolerant but needs well-drained soil to thrive. Hardy in zones 4-9, full sun, matures to 12-15’ tall x 3-4’ wide. (Note: While this evergreen has been unavailable for a bit while our supplier was building their stock, we are thrilled to be able to offer it again next season.)
If your porch is quite shaded, even in the wintertime, consider using Stonehenge® yews as potted Christmas trees. They are the most shade tolerant evergreens you’ll find in our lineup, and that goes for landscape plantings, too. While most yews have a rounded form, this unique cultivar was selected for its strictly upright, columnar shape. Its dark green foliage is very resistant to winter burn, and you can cut its stems to use indoors or in window boxes for the holidays, too. Hardy in zones 4-7, full sun to full shade, matures to 8-10’ tall x 2-4’wide. Need something even narrower? Try the pencil thin Stonehenge Skinny® which matures to 6-8’ tall x 12” wide.
Go further:
- See all of the evergreen shrubs we offer at Garden Crossings.
- Live local to Zeeland, Michigan? Attend one of our winter holiday décor-making workshops.
All images courtesy of Proven Winners.
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