After a few Christmases with a last-minute scramble to get a tree – including one when there were none left to buy, but our friends’ church’s daycare had one they didn’t need anymore, so my husband drove across town at rush hour to pick it up – we decided to beat the rush permanently and buy a live tree we could use every year. We did some research and chose to get a Norfolk Island pine. It’s still with us, and we’re happy with it.

This plant originated on Norfolk Island, off Australia. It’s not officially a tree, but a “treeform houseplant”. Whatever you call it, it looks enough like an evergreen to serve as a Christmas tree. The rest of the year, it brings a touch of tropical forest to your house.

The price is comparable to a cut tree (about $50 to $85 in Canada), which averages out to much less per year. They’re available at hardware stores and garden centers. One sign of their popularity is that the seeds of the plant are one of Norfolk Island’s main exports.

Of course, Norfolk Island pines have their drawbacks. They don’t have the evergreen smell which is a part of Christmas memories for many people. Only non-heating LED lights are safe to put on them – before these became available, we just put our lights on the curtain rod instead.

Another customer in the store where we bought ours warned us they were “finicky”, but we haven’t had much trouble. The trees do need lots of water and sunlight – the top of the soil should be damp. They will grow toward the sun, also, so unless you want a leaning Christmas tree, you’ll need to remember to turn yours every so often. Dead branches have to be trimmed off.

But you’ll also find new, light green sprigs growing – and you don’t see that on most Christmas trees.

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