The Christmas tree is the centerpiece of the holiday display in your home. The conifer infuses your home with fir and pine scents that makes it feel like Christmas.
Having a real Christmas tree can create a fun and enjoyable family experience for the holiday season. If you have never had a real Christmas tree before, you should know that there are ways that you can keep it happy and healthy the whole time you have it up in your home.
Ways to Keep Your Christmas Tree Healthy During the Holiday Season
When you know how to buy and care for a Christmas tree, this ensures that you will have maximum enjoyment throughout the holiday season. The National Christmas Tree Association provides some key techniques for ensuring your holiday tree stays in good condition for the Christmas season.
Check the Freshness of the Christmas Tree
When you set out to purchase a Christmas tree, do a freshness test to make sure it will last for the entire time it will be up in your home. You can gently grasp a branch between your thumb and forefinger and pull it toward you. There should be very few, if any, needles that come off in your hand if the tree is fresh. You can also shake and bounce the tree on its stump. If it is fresh, only a small number of green needles may fall off. What you can expect is some interior brown needles to drop from the tree. That is perfectly normal.
Fresh Cut Christmas Tree
Before you place the Christmas tree into the stand for display, cut about one inch off the base of your tree. As Christmas trees are conifers, they are infused with resin canals in their trunks. So when you cut your tree down at the Christmas tree farm, the resin should start to block some pores, which makes your tree receiving water a slower process. However, making a fresh cut at home will assist in increasing the amount of water that goes into your tree.
The exception to this rule is if the Christmas tree was cut within the last six to eight hours, then it will not need to be re-cut.
Give Your Christmas Tree Plenty of Water
You will find that your tree will take in a substantial amount of water, especially during the first week you have it. For instance, if you have a Christmas tree that has a two-inch diameter trunk, for a while it may need two quarts of water every day. A tree with a four-inch diameter trunk might require as much as a gallon of water per day.
You don’t want to base how much water you give to your Christmas tree on the water capacity listed on the tree stand’s label or box, as it could be misleading. You should allow for the quantity of water that will be displaced when the tree trunk is placed into the stand.
Also, you should be aware that a seal of dried sap will form over the cut stump in four to six hours if the water drops below the base of the tree. If a seal does form, you need to make another fresh cut in the tree.
Make sure to look at the tree a few times a day to ensure it has enough water, particularly during the first week the Christmas tree is in your home. Keep the water amount above the level of the trunk bottom.
You will want to make sure your stand will hold enough water for the size of the tree. Try measuring the diameter of your tree trunk in inches, which is how many quarts of water your tree stand ought to be able to contain. For example, if the tree trunk measures seven inches across, then you will need a tree stand that is able to hold seven quarts of water.
Adequate water keeps your tree’s needles from drying and dropping off, as well as preventing the boughs from drooping.
Keep Your Christmas Tree Away From All Heat Sources
You will want to make sure your tree is far away from any heating mechanisms, including heat vents, a fireplace, baseboard heat, and portable heaters. These heat sources can cause your tree to dry out much faster, and, most importantly, they can result in setting the tree on fire.
Avoid Putting Additives in your Christmas Tree Water
People commonly pose questions to Michigan State University Extension educators regarding their Christmas tree. One of the typical questions they receive relates to the idea of putting additives in the water for the Christmas tree.
Some people have read that it might be helpful to include in the water home remedies with ingredients such as bleach, aspirin, or sugar. However, research conducted in Washington and North Carolina has revealed that it is best to use plain tap water for your tree.
Let Boyd’s Tree Service Help Keep Your Trees Healthy and Thriving
At Boyd’s Tree Service, we are a full-service tree and stump removal business that serves the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas. Boyd’s Tree Service is a fully insured and bonded tree removal contractor with many years of experience with tree care and tree removal.
You’ll find that at Boyd’s Tree Service – comprised of fourth-generation tree men – we provide the most comprehensive tree care. Because we live and work in this community, we understand what it takes for trees and properties to thrive in our unique climate. We take pride in enhancing the well-being, beauty, and aesthetics of your trees.
If you live in the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas and you would like more information about our tree services, or to schedule an appointment, we invite you to call Boyd’s Tree Service at (509) 585-4194.
