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How to choose a Christmas tree — and then keep it alive once you get it home

Toby Keel Toby Keel

Expert advice on Christmas trees, good news for English bluebells, plus our Quiz of the Day and more — it's all in Tuesday's Dawn Chorus.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… to cut down a tree, pop it in a bucket and stick it in the corner of your sitting room

Yes, it’s Christmas tree season once more.

You’d be a brave soul to put one up this early, of course — not that it’s stopped the good folk at Windsor Castle or Claridge’s, to name but two.

The 2024 Christmas trees at Claridge’s (left) and Windsor Castle (right). Credit: Getty / ©Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust

No matter when you take the plunge, though, it’s worth thinking about what type to go for — so we were pleased to be sent some timely advice from Andy Little of the British Garden Centres group, who run 65 garden centres across Britain, and therefore we presume know a thing or two about trees.

  • The classic Nordmann Fir is a perennial popular choice for Christmas trees, thanks to its symmetrical shape, well-spaced branches, and soft, dark green needles that stay on the tree for a long time. This makes it ideal for families with children and pets;
  • If you prefer a more traditional look, the Norway Spruce is a great option. It has a strong, long-lasting fragrance and plenty of branches for hanging ornaments;
  • For something a little different, the Fraser Fir has dark blue-green needles and a fresh scent;
  • And then there’s the Blue Spruce, a striking tree with attractive blue-green foliage.

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No matter which you choose, Andy advises that you check that the needles are shiny and green — any yellowing means it’s already been out of the ground for longer than you’d want. And if you’re choosing between two similar-sized trees, go for the heavier of the two: it’s more likely to be fuller of water, and thus will survive longer.  Once you get it home, the old advice you’ve heard a million times really does help: try to position it away from radiators, log burners or other heat sources, and keeping it topped up with water really will help it keep its needles for as long as possible.

There’s another option, too. Follow the advice of Alan Titchmarsh on how to grow your own Christmas tree and you’ll be able to go years between buying trees.

Quiz of the Day

1) In which country was England cricketer Ben Stokes born?
2) To the nearest hundred, for how many days did Edward VIII reign as monarch?
3) Who sang the theme song for Bond film GoldenEye?
4) Often referred to as ‘Big Ben’, what is the proper name of Westminster’s iconic clock tower?
5) Which blue-flowered herb is traditionally served in Pimm’s?

Answers down below

Don’t feel blue about the bluebells

People have begun to worry about the plight of the English bluebell just as they worry about red squirrels. The worry is that the invasive Spanish bluebell — still pretty, though less delicate nor as charmingly droopy as its English counterpart — will take over the bluebell woods of Britain.

But you need not worry, according to our expert Charles Quest-Ritson: it’s simply not going to happen that way. ‘English bluebells have two massive advantages over the immigrants, he explains.

Native English bluebells stand less upright than the Spanish variety.

‘First, there are so many of them that an occasional dalliance with a Spaniard makes little difference to the overall gene pool.

‘[And] second, the two are not fully interfertile, meaning that they don’t cross with each other as easily as one might suppose, because our native bluebells prefer pollen from their own kith and kin. The Spanish hybrid H. x massartiana also prefers pollen from pure English bluebells, which means that its genetic presence diminishes all the time. In short, the old fear of extinction by hybridisation is groundless.’

Just in case, though, CQR has been planting the English variety by the car boot load this autumn — safe in the knowledge that his efforts wouldn’t be wasted: ‘All this was a comforting thought as I wielded my trowel. Long may my newly planted English beauties be preserved from introgression.’

Read Charles’s full piece here.

And finally… he loves the sound of breaking glass

 

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That’s it — we’re back tomorrow

QUIZ ANSWERS
1) New Zealand
2) 300 (326)
3) Tina Turner
4) Elizabeth Tower
5) Borage (Borago officinalis)

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