M wrote:
I have bought an M & S "Musical Advent Gift Bag" containing a live tree
about 8" tall. The one I bought last year died so I would appreciate any
advice on how to care for the tree. I would eventually like to put the tree
in the garden.

Just up the road from my house, the Christmas trees from a very large
estate are felled yearly - they wre felled 2-3 weeks ago and are all
covered in mesh things, hundreds and hundreds of them stacked and
ready for sending to retailers. These will certainly drop their
needles before Christmas.

The ones that have still got their roots attached are also stacked so
the drying process has already begun so if you buy one in 4 weeks time
it will have taken quite a battering. I have managed to plant, in my
last house, two bare rooted trees. As soon as I got them, I put them
into the greenhouse in a bucket of water for several days before I
planted them, in soil, for bringing indoors - they survived but I have
done this to countless other Chriasmas trees and they did not survive.

Good luck