Jenna, Congrats! I'm excited for you. Its important to know what tree you have in order to properly care for it. Can you post a picture for ID? My guess is the soil its in is the soil you bought the plant in? What is it like? Is it like your everyday commercial potting mix? If so, consider waiting until the spring to repot into proper bonsai soil. Bonsai soil si free draining and coarse. Generally speaking, that is something to the effect of: 50% turface, perlite, lava rock, etc. (you pick one) 50% pine or fir bark, etc. If you have a slow draining soil currently, be very careful with how frequently you water your plant. You may kill it, otherwise. You should water it when it is still damp and not quite yet dry. Drought and overwatering both take a toll on the plant. You can check for dryness with a chopstick or toothpick. Penetrate the soil through to the floor of the pot and leave it there for 15 minutes. If there is little to no dampness, you should water the plant. If it is wet, well then don't water it. Feed once a week with fertilizer. Leaves say a lot about how your tree is doing. Yellow leaves may indicate too much water, while browning leaves indicate drought. Make sure your pot allows for draining - are there holes underneath? Like I said, how you care for a bonsai varies from species to species... so whatever that says trumps what I've said. So, you should get your tree identified. Good luck! Cheers, Adam

Canaan fir = Abies balsamea var. phaerolepis. Took the time to look this up the other day since we are selling them as cut trees for the first time this season :-) As to the living trees, we sold a great many of them at a former nursery - perhaps half as many as the cut varieties. One of the reasons they were so popular is that they were accepted back at the nursery after Christmas for a planting project that was charged with reforesting local salmon streams (all native species). Despite a January planting date, less than ideal planting conditions as well as some pretty amatuer planting help, the bulk of these trees survive. It's going to depend on the source and their supplier, but a live Xmas tree should not be in any different shape than one you would purchase in season to plant in your landscape. How successfully they will transition from a very temporary indoor setting to the outdoors is going to be heavily dependant on how long they are inside, the treatment they receive inside and how easy it is to get them climatized and replanted outside. I'd think this would be much easier accomplished in areas where the ground does not freeze and planting can take place at any time.

Resin is quite the conifer expert. I think it would be best to acclimate them to some natural cycle. I find my garage gets dark enough and cool enough plants in it go dormant so you don't have to suddenly throwing a tree which has been in a 70 degree office into a 10 degree night. My guess would be 3 weeks in the garage then bury the pots in the garden some relatively warm late January day. Let us know how things turn out! Could be a great find if a few live for ya.

Et Voila! Our lady is in her new home! Moved & planted her yesterday! 1/5/13 1. Dug out 4" of snow to uncover hole and work area. 2. Moved tree & the saved soil & tools to work area. 3. Popped out mulch from pre-dug target hole. 4. Fought to free tree from container (frozen 1" of soil). 5. Cut away burlap, plunked her in, covered with soil, potting mix, a little mulch. 6. Watered thoroughly. I had "hardened" or acclimatized the tree to cold temps with 4 nights in the barn. It had been below freezing, but at least not windy in the barn. Top inch of soil in the container had frozen, so difficult to free tree from container, but elbow grease and patience won in end. I probably second-guessed the location of the hole a few times, but too late. She looks great where she is. Needles still green, moist. This tree looks like it never moved anywhere. She has a stockade fence on her windy side, so that'll help protect her. I have her lashed to the fence for a little first season support, too. Looks much smaller in the yard than in the house! But would be an expensive purchase at the nursery if I bought a new one this size. [Hit the project link below to see all the pictures.] Payoff: Feels fantastic not to be throwing out a dried out old pine on top of the pine & tinsel remains at the Town Dump. We can look at that tree next summer and know it had a star atop it on Dec 25. I very much appreciate your excellent tips that gave me confidence to proceed on this adventure. I'll update when I see new growth in the spring. Meanwhile feel free to add in any more tips as to care, feeding, nurturing of a conifer such as this. Here is a link that might be useful: Living Christmas Tree project thru 1/5/2013