Living Christmas trees are a beautiful, sustainable, and fun way to add a little extra magic to your home this holiday season!
Living Christmas trees are potted conifers, and unlike freshly cut Christmas trees, they are still alive and growing. The best part is that they can be enjoyed indoors—decorated and lit—for a few festive weeks before being planted in the landscape or moved to outdoor containers. They’re an eco-friendly way to enjoy the beauty of a Christmas tree while adding a new plant to your garden! Just be sure to give them the special care they need to thrive both indoors and out.
How to Choose the Perfect Living Christmas Tree
Any conifer can serve as a living Christmas tree—from classic cone-shaped varieties to those with unique forms, textures, and colors. The most important thing is that YOU enjoy the look of your tree and follow proper care instructions.
Living Christmas trees offer the chance to get creative and embrace the natural beauty and diversity of conifers. Whether you prefer a traditional aesthetic or a less conventional conifer, our Garden Centers are well stocked with a wide range of sizes and styles to explore the season. If you plan to plant your tree after the holidays, be sure to consider its mature size—some varieties grow quite large. Here are some of our favorite conifers for living Christmas trees!
Unique Conifers for Living Christmas Trees
These conifers offer unusual and intriguing texture, needle color, and shape, while still providing a strong, upright scaffolding for your holiday ornaments and lights.
- Skylands Caucasian Spruce – Tightly held chartreuse needles and exaggerated spacing between branches give this slow-growing, shade-tolerant Spruce dramatic, modern look indoors or planted out in the landscape; 15’H x 5’ W at maturity
- Blue Ice Cypress – This beautiful columnar conifer has thin, shockingly blue and white needled branches that are stiff and lacy, making it an eye-catching pretty and modern addition to your Christmas décor and a gorgeous giant in the landscape; 40–50’ H by 15–20’ W at maturity
- Black Dragon Japanese Cedar – Rich, deep green branches have unusual bracts of stiff, finger-like needles that rise to form a loose, rounded pyramid—a strong textural presence in the garden or indoors; 6–10’ H by 3–4’ W at maturity
- Japanese White Pine – Artfully spaced branches hold blue and white needles on this Japanese White Pine, making it the perfect canvas for an eclectic Christmas scene indoors and a versatile, beautiful addition to large containers or entryway gardens; slow-growing to 30’ H by 30’ W
Classic Conifers for Living Christmas Trees
These firs and spruces make excellent alternatives to traditional cut Christmas trees, resembling the classic shapes you expect while still being alive and growing.
- Grand Fir – True green needles have one of the best, classic Christmas tree fragrances of any evergreen tree and lie flat on evenly spaced branches, forming a dense cone even when small and ultimately going on to tower over the landscape; 70’ H by 30’ W at maturity
- Dwarf Alberta Spruce – These small-needled, fuzzy-looking trees form perfect cones and make an adorable living addition to a larger Christmas scene or work well as a stand-alone on a table, and fit into almost any landscape scheme; 8–10’ H by 5’ W at maturity
- Columnar Norway Spruce – Dark green needles circle around tight, even branches for a classic-looking Christmas tree indoors with a narrower, tighter habit, and looks fantastic as an accent in corners or at the edge of a landscape; 20’ H x 5–6’ W at maturity
- Blue Spruce – Blue Spruces make fantastic living Christmas trees, thanks to their perfect, upright conical habit and enticing steely blue needles, plus endless varieties are available to add extra interest to the garden once planted; 6–40’ H by 3–20’ W (size dependent on cultivar)
Living Christmas Tree Indoor Display Care Tips
Indoor Acclimation
- It’s best to transition the tree into your home slowly, keeping it on a covered porch or cooler room for one day before bringing it inside.
- Keep your tree indoors for no more than 7–10 days at a time, especially if your home is very warm. To enjoy indoors again, give it a few days outside to refresh before bringing it back in.
- Do not place your tree next to heating vents or fireplaces, where the dry heat may cause stress on the plant and make it dry out faster.
Bonus Tip: Consider a hybrid approach by displaying your living tree on a porch or balcony and decorating it with weather-proof ornaments and lights!
Watering Needs
Living Christmas trees must stay moist to avoid needles drying out and dropping. Remember, they would normally be out in the cool, wet weather, so simulating those conditions as much as possible will help keep your tree healthy. Here are some helpful watering tips:
- Water thoroughly to keep roots moist, but never allow your tree to sit in standing water.
- For easy watering, place a tray of ice cubes on top of the soil every other day, or more often for larger trees.
- Allow for room for drainage and use a tray for excess water. Additional surface protection may be necessary for wood floors and furniture.
Decorating Tips for Living Christmas Trees
As with any Christmas tree, decorations on a living tree provide the perfect opportunity to express yourself and lean into the holiday spirit. However, a few special considerations should be made when decorating a living tree:
Container
Instead of repotting, leave your tree in it’s plastic grower pot and set into a decorative container—like a metal urn or festive ceramic pot—or simply wrap it with paper or burlap! Be sure to place a tray underneath to catch any water.
Tree Lights
LED lights, which are cooler than hot incandescent Christmas lights, are better for living Christmas trees because they won’t dry out the foliage or stress the plant.
Ornaments
Decorate with lightweight ornaments so they don’t bend or break the branches. Consider adding natural elements like berries or decorating with bows and garland alongside classic ornaments for an extra special touch.
Find more living Christmas tree decorating tips on our blog!
Planting Your Living Christmas Tree After the Holidays
Once your living Christmas tree has shared its holiday cheer indoors, remove the decorations and give it a new beginning by moving it outside to thrive in your garden!
- Hose off the whole tree with a fine mist spray to humidify the branches, and water thoroughly.
- If the temperature is below freezing, take the tree back into a cool room or garage for a few days to help acclimate it to the cold before moving it outside permanently.
- If you are ready to plant and the ground is not frozen solid, plant your tree!
- If you prefer to wait until Spring to plant your tree, be sure to keep it well watered through Winter, and position it in a location where it won’t get blown over in Winter winds.
Our local Garden Centers have a fantastic selection of traditional and unique conifers that can be used indoors as living Christmas trees. Our experts can help you find the perfect tree for your space, and our FREE living Christmas tree care guide will set you up for success!