For many people, the labor of dragging a tree inside your home, anchoring it to a base and trimming it from top to bottom is an annual tradition that brings great joy during the holiday season. This year, what if you tried something different? What if your tree was alive? Yes, actually alive and yes, it can be done!
King County Parks is a designated beneficiary of the Swansons Nursery living tree program. Purchase a participating holiday living tree and give your tree a second life that will continue well beyond the holidays and for many years to come in one of King County Parks’ protected open spaces or right in your very own backyard.
The living tree program continues to grow in popularity, so if you’ve been thinking about it; this is the year to do it! It’s easy to learn how to care for a holiday living tree and the staff at Swansons Nursery can answer just about any question you have about the native species included in this special program.
Stop by Swansons Nursery on Sunday, December 8 and visit with King County Parks while you pick up your tree! We’ll be in-store with activities for the kids and great information about upcoming volunteer opportunities for tree plantings and habitat restoration. Come by and see us!
King County Parks Living Tree Day
Sunday, December 8
10 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Swansons Nursery
9701 15th Avenue NW Seattle, WA 98117
Is this opportunity only available on Dec 8?
Hi Jason – great question! This opportunity is available now and through December 25. You are welcome to stop by Swansons Nursery anytime during their business hours to buy a living holiday tree and King County Parks will be in-store on December 8 to add a little more holiday cheer for Christmas tree shoppers!
Great idea! But how well do this trees survive indoors? And won’t the heating be a problem (some plants hate it and christmas is cold outside)
That is a great question! The benefit of a long-term life for a living tree will require a tradeoff in the number of days that it is kept in the home. Living trees can be kept in the home for approximately 5-7 days before they have to be returned outdoors. What a lot of people do with their living trees and is pretty cool, is they’ll decorate it outside (hey, Charlie Brown!) with outdoor lights, etc. and then bring the tree inside for the week of Christmas. Afterwards, you can either plant it in your backyard or bring it back to Swansons Nursery to be added to the restoration effort. If we happen to get snow in late December, it would be quite magical to wake up one morning and see real snow (not that stuff in a can) on your living tree outside!