Nature Done Wright

  For those of us who buy Christmas
trees, a growing question is whether to buy:
   a.) a fake tree that can be used for several years
   b.) a cut tree that can be mulched
   c.) or a live tree that can be planted after the holiday nuttiness is over.

   I did a story for The Record on that very topic, which can be found here.

   I interviewed an environmentalist with a master’s degree in forestry from Yale.

   My wife and I have bought live trees many times, and I’d say that half of them survived.

    I have included shots of three that survived. The one at the top had to be yew. It was a little guy, with room for maybe four ornaments. We planted it, the sparrows love it, and it has not grown at all.

    The second tree was about feet tall, and we had rain the day I was supposed to bring it into the house. I had been exercising for a couple of hours, and when I went to lift the tree, with its ball of wet dirt, my back went into spasm.

   For the rest of the holiday.

   The tree is now next to the feeders, and all sorts of birds like it. My back is back to normal.

   The third tree was about three or four feet tall, and it was replanted this year when we ripped out our front lawn and went native plant.

   Looks pretty good, and fits in nicely. Couldn’t put many ornaments on it, but it sure was green.

  The trees that died, sad to say, may have died from neglect. I didn’t plant them soon enough, or didn’t water them properly.

   Digging a hole to plant a tree, by the way, is not a huge deal but no picnic either.

  This year I think we may be talking a cut tree, and bringing it to the town recycling place to be mulched later.

   I think I might prefer the no tree-at-all option, but I don’t see much future in it. Peace on Earth, and all that.