How to Care for Your Christmas Tree

Last year The Girl and the HH convinced me that we needed to scrap the artificial tree and head to a Christmas Tree Farm to pick out the real deal.  Well, now I am hooked.  Real trees have character–and even better, I didn’t have to store it in the attic all year long.  So, even though we are waiting to get our tree until next weekend, I know that most people will be putting their’s up already, so I thought I’d do a quick post on how to care for a fresh cut Christmas tree.

1. Get that sucker into water as soon as possible.  You have a 6-8 hour window when the tree will be willing to take up water, so if you are headed up into the mountains for an old fashioned Griswold Christmas tree hunt, make sure you can get your tree into water within that time frame.
2. Right before you put the tree into water, make a fresh cut straight across the trunk {you only need to cut an inch or so off, but you can cut more}.  A fresh cut will ensure your tree can take up the most water.
3. Buy a stand that fits the base of your tree.  Whittling down the sides of the trunk will diminish the amount of time the tree will stay fresh {the outer layers of bark are actually best at taking in water, so whittling them away affects the water intake}.
4. Don’t put the tree near a heat source.  So, no fireplaces {duh, how would Santa get in if  you blocked the fireplace?}, heat vents, etc.
5. Try to keep at least a quart of water in the stand at all times.  The key is to minimize how quickly your tree begins to drop needles.
6. The less heat the lights put off, the better.  It will be less drying to the tree.  So mini lights are better than big ones, LED’s are better than standard, etc.  {Logic is a strong suit for me :)}
7. As a general safety tip {afterall, I was hall monitor in 2nd and 3rd grade} turn off Christmas lights when you are not at home.  Not only will they be less drying to your tree, but they also won’t potentially set the place on fire while you are out buying presents to go under the tree.
8. If  you don’t plan on putting the tree in the house right away, you can store it in a bucket of water in a cool place–like the garage or front patio for a couple of days, until you are ready to decorate.

That’s my two cents on the subject, for what it’s worth.  How about you, do you have any other tips for keeping the tree fresher, longer?

~Mavis