A Holiday Norfolk Pine Can Last Years. Here's How to Care for It

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If you're into low-maintenance houseplants, you may have pots with purple passion plant, ZZ plant, or wandering dude in your personal houseplant collection.

But if you’re looking for something different, a plant with textural interest and soft, touchable branches, Norfolk Island pine is a fun choice for any brightly-lit room of your house.

The branches of this tree are set in eye-catching whorls around the trunk, giving it an appealing form. Interestingly, this evergreen isn’t really a pine. Norfolk pine is part of an ancient plant family named Araucariaceae, which was widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

Native to the South Pacific, this evergreen can reach 200 feet tall in its natural habitat, with trunks 10 feet in diameter!

Thankfully, when grown indoors, they don't get nearly that big. But Norfolk Island pines can still max out at 6 to 9 feet tall.

At the holidays, Norfolk pines often are sold as living Christmas trees. They make great gifts and cute tabletop trees for small spaces in your home, apartment or dorm. Best of all? With the proper care, Norfolk Island pines can last for years well beyond the holidays.

Read more: How to Care for a Christmas Cactus So It Blooms All Season Long

Read on to learn how to care for your Norfolk Island pine:

Why Trust Us?

I'm a garden writer with more than 15 years of experience growing houseplants, edibles, and landscape plantings. I also trial new plant cultivars for performance and reliability, and test garden products to evaluate practicality and durability. I’ve been growing Norfolk Island pines for many years and have two that are at least a decade old.

Norfolk Island Pine Plant Basic Info:

• Common Name: Norfolk Island pine, Norfolk pine, Australian Pine

• Botanical Name: Araucaria heterophylla

• Plant Family: Araucariaceae

• Type of Plant: Tree, houseplant

• Native Origin: South Pacific, specifically Norfolk Island off of Australia’s coast

• Sun Exposure: Full sun outdoors, bright light indoors

• Mature Size: 200 feet tall outdoors, 10 feet indoors

• Toxic to pets: No

How Do You Care for Norfolk Island Pine?

The biggest challenge is to give your Norfolk Island pine as much light as possible.

They like very bright light, preferably with some direct morning sun. To help the plant grow more evenly, rotate the pot every few weeks. These plants also do well under a grow light, if you don’t have bright, sunny windows.

Bright light keeps new growth dense and compact. If it’s not getting sufficient light, Norfolk pines tend to get leggy, and their branches droop. This causes them to look more whimsical and wispy, like Charlie Brown's Christmas Tree.

It's not necessary, but you can feed Norfolk pine once or twice a year, if you like, with any general-purpose houseplant food.

Also, do not place this plant directly in front of heat vents or drafty windows. That makes it very unhappy, and it will drop branches, which will not regrow.

How Do You Water Norfolk Island Pine?

Norfolk Island pines prefer to stay lightly moist. It’s okay if it feels a wee bit dry on the surface of the soil, but don’t let it dry out any further.

This plant gets super-fussy if it doesn’t receive ample, consistent moisture and will start dropping lower branches.

Norfolk pines also like high humidity levels (higher than 50 percent), which is tough to achieve indoors in the winter in most homes. Help it out by grouping it with other houseplants so that their transpiration (when they release water vapor) can be mutually beneficial, or run a humidifier nearby. FYI, no matter what you’ve heard, misting plants does not raise humidity levels.

Can You Decorate a Norfolk Island Pine?

Absolutely! This plant is often sold as a holiday tabletop tree. Make sure you choose one that isn’t already dropping branches or dried out because it’s not going to recover.

Also, the delicate branches aren’t sturdy enough for heavy ornaments, so use mini ornaments and LED lights, which also will be less likely to dry it out.

Read more: 10 Simple Care Tips to Make Your Poinsettia Last Beyond Christmas

Should You Prune a Norfolk Pine?

It’s not recommended.

You can cut off dead lower branches or uneven tips to neaten it up, but it’s not going to stimulate growth, as pruning does when trimming other houseplants such as pothos or philodendron.

If your tree gets too tall for your house, you can trim off the central leader, or top of the plant, to halt upward growth. Or try to find it a new home.

It’s also okay to add it to your compost bin and start over, if it starts to look gangly.

Can You Grow Norfolk Island Pine Outdoors?

In USDA Hardiness zones 10 and warmer (find your zone here), you can grow Norfolk pine outdoors. But because of its vulnerability to wind damage due to its mature height and shape, it's typically not recommended as a landscape plant in hurricane-prone places, such as South Florida. It also tends to develop large surface roots, so it's not a good shade tree.

Are Norfolk Island Pines Toxic to Pets?

According to ASPCA, Norfolk Island pines are not toxic pets. However, any plant can cause GI upset if your pet ingests enough of it, so call your vet right away if you suspect your pet has eaten this plant. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

Norfolk Island Pine in Decor Pot, 10-inch

Norfolk Island Pine, 3 to 4 feet tall with ornaments

Tabletop Norfolk Pine

Norfolk Island Pine in Decorative Pot, 4-inch

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