Growing Indoor Evergreens
Enliven your interiors this winter with an indoor miniature shrub garden featuring a colorful and varied collection of favorite evergreens.
LIGHT: Indoors, mini evergreens should be close to a window to receive at least 6-8 hours a day of direct sun. Enjoy as a centerpiece or temporary holiday decoration, but return plants to a sunny window if you wish to keep them growing.
TEMPERATURE: We recommend placing your trees in a cool room (where the temperature does not rise much above 65°F). Plants benefit from being close to a window on cold winter nights. Situate your plant away from radiators, woodstoves and hot air vents to avoid drying.
WATERING: Check the soil mix frequently with your finger. If the soil feels dry ½" below the surface, water thoroughly. We recommend taking the plant to a sink for watering. This allows excess water to drain, rather than collecting inside the saucer or decorative outer container; waterlogged soil can cause root rot. Misting or added humidity is beneficial in winter.
CONTINUING CARE:
Please note: Our slow-growing trees are best treated as seasonal plants and discarded after the holidays. However, with some care they can be grown in containers for several years or planted in the garden where hardy. For long-term growing, transplant into slightly larger pots with drainage holes, using a general-purpose potting soil mixture. We recommend moving your container-grown plants to a sunny spot outdoors for the summer (after the danger of hard frost has passed), returning them to a sunny windowsill in fall. Over time, repot if the plants become rootbound or difficult to water properly, refreshing the soil mix and upsizing to slightly larger containers, individually or as a group. The pot will constrain the size of the plant.
These evergreens can also be planted outside in a sunny garden in appropriate zones. The Juniper, Arborvitae, Chamaecyparis, and Spruce are generally hardy to zone 3 to 5, but do not thrive in areas warmer than Zone 8. Gold-foliage Cypress (Cupressus) are hardy to Zone 7 but grow well in hotter climates. Choose a site in full sun with average, well-drained soil.