Among the towering ashes and oaks across the road from our house, situated beneath a small break in the (summer) leaf canopy, is our old Christmas tree.
We put it there three years ago.
By that time, it had been brought in off the patio in its pot for two Christmases, festooned with fairy lights and gold stars like a long-suffering pet in a Santa costume, and then returned to the outdoors. We would have kept it longer, if we could have, but with pine trees not having evolved to grow in pots, it wasn't long before the lower branches started to brown and we realised we needed to plant it out or, like its predecessor, watch it die.
Now we get to see it every day and it has become, almost, an object of affection. Like a sickly child who once gave cause for concern, we stop and peer at it with a mixture of pride and anxiety – "Hasn't it grown! Look at that glossy new growth! Do you think it's getting enough light?"
Living trees are limited in size because any tree more than three feet tall needs a colossal pot to contain its root ball; too big and you can't actually move it. They don't drop as many needles, though, and the piney scent is just as intense on January 6 as Christmas Eve.
In a few weeks time, the pavements will be strewn with discarded old trees, little Cinderellas which were once the resplendent centrepieces of halls and lounges, decorated and prettified and cooed over, and then, when twelfth night chimed, left broken and dessicated on the pavement awaiting the bin lorry. It's a waste – they could at least be made into firewood.
Better if they have roots: then they can be replanted and given the chance to explode with new growth at the onset of spring, in preparation for another Christmas.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article