Korean Fir Potted Christmas Tree

A Korean Fir is an outdoor tree that visits the house for Christmas. It asks for three things: a pot that drains fast, water only when the root ball needs it, and shelter from heat. Give it those, and it is a rewarding tree to keep.

• When It Arrives: Unpack a couriered tree straight away, take the wrapping off the root ball and stand it upright. Lift it by the pot, not by the trunk: the leader is long and is the part most easily damaged. Push a finger into the potting mix before you water. If it is dry, water deeply until water runs from the base and let it drain fully; if it is still moist, leave it. Give the tree a few days outdoors in bright shade before you bring it in. The branches will have been folded upwards to fit the carton and relax over a day or two. If Christmas is still weeks away, leave it outside in a cool, sheltered spot and bring it in when you are ready to decorate.
• Indoors at Christmas: About two weeks is the limit. Choose the coolest, brightest position you have, and keep it away from heaters, air-conditioner vents and hot western glass. Stand the pot inside a tub, half barrel or deep saucer to protect the floor, and empty it once the pot has finished draining.
• Watering: This is the part that matters most. Water deeply, then wait. Before every watering, push a finger a few centimetres into the mix: water when it has dried at that depth, and before the root ball dries right through. Never leave the pot standing in water. A few of the oldest needles browning and dropping from deep inside the tree is normal. If needles brown or drop across the tree, check the root ball before you do anything else; with this species, too wet is the more likely cause.
• Decorating: Use LED lights, which run cool. Hang ornaments on the side branches, and keep anything on the long leader light.
• Back Outside: After Christmas, do not move it straight from the lounge room into January sun. Give it about a week in a sheltered, shaded spot first, then move it to a position with morning sun and afternoon shade. In a hot spell, move it somewhere cooler and out of the wind until the heat passes.
• Know Your Climate: This is a highland tree. In our experience, it does well in the Southern Highlands, and it suits Orange, the tablelands, the upper Blue Mountains, the Adelaide Hills and the cooler ranges around Melbourne. In Canberra and Melbourne, keep it sheltered from afternoon sun and from hot, dry winds. In Sydney, treat it as a Christmas tree for the season unless you can give it specialised conditions. We do not recommend it for Queensland. Tasmania’s climate would suit it very well, but we cannot send trees there this season.
• Through the Year: Keep it in morning sun with shade through summer afternoons, sheltered from hot, drying winds, and keep the pot off hot paving. Raise the pot on feet so the drainage holes stay clear. It struggles in heavy summer downpours if the pot stays saturated, so in a run of wet weather check that it is draining and move it under cover if it is not. Feed in spring with a slow-release fertiliser for trees and shrubs.
• Potting Up: Repot in autumn, once the peak of summer heat has passed and the days are around 23 to 24 degrees with nights in the low to mid teens. In the Southern Highlands, that is usually late February or early March; in other cool districts, a little later. Use a premium potting mix and open it up with pumice or scoria, so water runs through quickly and air reaches the roots. Move up one size only, from a 300mm pot to a 400mm: a much larger pot holds wet mix around the roots for too long. If autumn gets away from you, late winter is the second window.
• Keeping Its Shape: It needs very little. Leave the leader alone. If a side shoot runs out of proportion, shorten it in summer once the new growth has begun to firm, cutting just above a healthy bud. Only cut into the current season’s growth, never back into bare wood, because it will not reshoot from there.
• Planting Out: Plant in autumn, when the days are mild and the nights are cool, so it can root in over winter. Choose a cooler aspect with good drainage, sheltered from hot, dry winds. It grows poorly in heavy clay and will not stand wet ground. It is a modest size for a fir, so allow 4 metres of clearance from buildings and fences. Water it deeply, and not too often, through its first two summers.

For more on living with a real tree, read our Ultimate Christmas Tree Care Guide.