Potted Norway Spruce

[Alexx]

Wasn't sure where to post this so posting here

This is something I always wanted to do - get a potted tree for Christmas and then plant it outside. Now I finally have a garden with a suitable spot for it. The only problem with it is that I live in a block of flats and I wouldn't want it to grow taller than let's say 10 ft as not to cause any inconvenience to neighbours. Also I wouldn't want to have to chop it off in 10 years.

So here's the question. Can I plant the tree (I'm thinking of a Norway spruce) together with the pot? Will it restrict the growth (I guess it will) while not killing the tree in the long term? How large a pot do i need? Also how do spruces take trimming?

Many thanks, looking forward to hear your experiences. The kids are all excited about the whole idea

[SarzWix]

A previous owner of our house thought it would be a good idea to plant their Christmas trees into the back garden..... How wrong they were... When we moved in, they were both around 30ft tall, and very unstable in high winds. We got the tree surgeon in, who told us that you can't just cut the tops off this type of tree (unlike leylandii hedging), you basically have to just chop the whole thing down. So I would advise very strongly against planting it into the ground. I would imagine that keeping it in a pot would mean lots & lots of watering, and eventually it would run out of root space - my experience is that they are quite shallow rooted, but spread the roots much further than the tree canopy reaches. I wouldn't bank on being able to keep it going for a longer than a couple of seasons.
Sorry if I seem like a killjoy, but if you imagine these trees in their proper habitat, trying to keep them in a suburban garden...??!!

[pigletwillie]

Try planting it in a root bag. This will effectively restrict its root ball and hence its size. They are used alot to grow specemin trees for replanting and also fruit trees to restrict their size or to enable them to be lifted at a later date.

[Alexx]

Thanks guys. I looked it up last nights and here
it says that apparently you can grow them as hedging and keep individual trees as small as 3ft.. So i guess I'll plant it in the ground and keep pruning and see what comes out of it.