POTTED LIVE EVERGREEN TREES have become popular in northern Michigan where they are increasingly being offered in the nursery trade.
Homeowners are placing them on front porches, balconies, and along brick patios to become year-round landscape features. During the winter months, they can be trimmed in holiday lights with festive ornaments adding to their attraction and utility. (The photo shows my Douglas Fir I bought last year and recently trimmed with white LEDs to celebrate the winter holiday season.)
After experiencing decades of “freshly cut” indoor trees and their disposal issues, I have become an advocate for potted evergreen trees. I have also helped secure a few potted white pines (Pinus strobus) for my girlfriend; but to be honest, you must have considerable strength to lift and transport these gems home from the retail nursery lots. The soil complex is mostly a sandy loam, which is the preferred rooting medium, but they come in at well over 60 pounds for 3 and 4-foot specimens.
The weight issue serves as the basis for this inquiry and beckons for a call to action. How can we solve this mass issue and master an approach so that more of us can enjoy these wonderful living trees in our homes and landscapes?
There is an opportunity knocking. Don’t you think?
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