​     If you plan to decorate a live holiday tree indoors and then move or plant it outdoors afterwards, choose a smaller size of tree, as it'll adapt better to conditions indoors and then again outdoors than a more mature one.
     After you bring the tree home, water it well and store it in an unheated garage or outbuilding for two or three days as a "half way spot" transition area before you move it indoors.
       Keep the rootball moist and the boughs misted. 
     Once you bring the tree indoors, give these living plants bright indirect light, keep them cool and out of drafts, and water them just enough to keep the potting mix barely moist.  Place it away from heating vents or fireplaces.  Water it either directly into its potting mix or by scattering ice cubes around the soil surface but away from the tree trunk every couple of days to slowly seep down into the entire root ball.
      Limit its time indoors to a maximum of seven days; fewer if the house is very warm.
     After removing its decorations, move the tree outside again to the garage, shed, or protected spot for at least two weeks to allow it to readjust to the cool outdoors.  The longer you enjoy the tree in the warm house, the longer it will need to reacclimate to outdoor conditions.
 
More Decorating Ideas From The Garden

• Small Norfolk Island pines can become mini-Christmas trees, with their own tiny lights and ornaments.
• Provide each room in the house with its own individually decorated tree--like cookie cutters hung with red ribbon bows for the kitchen.
• Other living plants for indoor color include African violets, azaleas, begonias, Christmas cactus, Christmas (Jerusalem) cherry, cyclamen, and kalanchoe, as well as the ever-dependable chrysanthemum and poinsettia.
• Cacti and succulents are also good choices, but they need direct sunlight and very little water.
• Pyracantha berries alternated with popcorn make attractive garlands.
• Oranges, lemons or apples sprinkled with cinnamon or cardamom and stuck with whole cloves are delightfully fragrant pomander balls.
• Rose hips add bright red and orange colors to green wreaths.
• Vines from grapes, honeysuckle, wisteria, willow, or ivy will bend into many usable shapes as the basis for more decoration.
• Eucalyptus pods, pine cones, acorns, and magnolia leaf clusters provide many shades of brown.
• Bufford's Holly, which grows better here than the traditional variety, gives us stickery-leafed green with red berries.
• Prunings from conifers and broad-leafed evergreens such as incense cedar, fir, laurel, magnolia, oleander, pine, pittosporum, podocarpus, and viburnum.
• The red berries from cotoneaster, nandina, and pyracantha always serve as a bright accent.
• Herbs, too, can trim yule logs, flavor jelly, give fragrance to clusters of twigs or wreaths and perfume the air in stovetop potpourris.
• And, of course, the mistletoe.

     Now that we’ve passed Thanksgiving, which is the average first frost date for us here in Pasadena and other foothill locales, and we have snow on the San Gabriel mountains down to about 3000 feet, we gardeners start paying much closer attention to nighttime temperature forecasts and their threat of frost. 
     Even with another cold and wet storm promised for later this week, our gardens do have one big advantage this year – the soil is already thoroughly saturated from the 1.5 inches of rain we’ve had from last week’s storm.  This means that plant and tree roots and foliage are fully hydrated and therefore able to withstand at least minimal freezing-temperature chill. 
     A nice relief after so many years of drought! 
     Of course, our Southern California drought will never really end since we live where we do, but at least our plants are going into the chill of this winter with their cells full of protective water!
     Here are some other protective techniques to employ in our gardens, should the weather warrant it on dry, windless, clear nights:

• Protect citrus and other subtropicals from cold damage by wrapping the tree trunks in newspaper.
• Cover tender plant and tree foliage like bougainvilleas, fuchsias, hibiscus and citrus with plastic sheeting.
• Bubble wrap offers even more protection than plastic sheeting because of its bubbles filled with air.
• Because cold “falls” straight down when there’s no breeze, prop up sheeting directly over the tree or plant.  
• However, prop it away from touching the foliage, or it will easily conduct the freezing temperatures directly to the foliage.
• Provide mini-greenhouses made from clear plastic milk or water jugs with their caps removed and their bottoms cut off. Place the jugs over seedlings, pressing the jugs about one-half inch deep into the soil to prevent the entry of pests such as cutworms at the soil level.  Push 18-inch-long stakes through the top hole down into the soil to lessen the chance of the jug being blown away during windy gusts.
• Use tomato cage forms to cover with spun-bonded fabric (usually used as row covers to keep out insects) to allow light and moisture in but keep frost out.
• Move dish cacti and succulents and potted trees under cover for protection from cold and rain.
• Appropriate to the season, if you still have any of the incandescent holiday lights, entwine plants so their slight heat will keep frost away.  Be sure to keep the light away from flammable materials, and fully insulate the connections from moisture.

 
For other garden tasks and opportunities this month, see Monthly Tips.