Add some Christmas colour to your garden

The festivities are in the air and mistletoe is a hot commodity inside many houses this time of the year. So, why not refurbish your garden with a festive tree too? Here, in New Zealand, the summer is upon us and the New Zealand Christmas tree or Pohutukawa can be seen in its most beautiful form for the occasion.

Thus, the summer season is a great time to add this beautiful and majestic tree to your garden. Adorned with red blossoms to celebrate the Christmas season, the Pohutukawa is the perfect ornamentation for any garden for years to come. The upkeep and tending requirements of this tree are also minimal, and once it is well settled in your garden, virtually nothing is able to affect it permanently.

A few tips to keep in mind before adding this new guest to your garden. Pay close attention to the location you choose to plant it. The roots of this plant are invasive and can intercept the boundaries of buildings so don’t plant it too close to home.

This tree grows best in soils with pH of 6.5 or above. So be sure to adjust the soil pH to favorable conditions. To plant a tree a hole the size of twofold of the girth of its root ball and roughly the same depth will be able to accommodate and hold the tree.

The New Zealand Christmas tree prefers humid soil. So it is essential to take care of its water supply. The tree will need at least 20 gallons of water every week especially in the first couple of years. After this the tree becomes more stable and can flourish well with 20 to 30 gallons of water every month.

A tree will reach flowering age in around ten years if you start from a seed. Fortunately grown and partially grown trees can also be bought from different vendors.

A beautiful addition to any garden, the Pohutukawa is a nature’s Christmas present!