Keep Your Live Christmas Tree Fresh All Season

If you want your live Christmas tree to stay fresh until New Year’s Day, buy a really, really fresh one to start with.
If you buy one whose needles are already falling off, it’s not going to last long. Plus, you can create a fire hazard if you place electric lights on a tree that’s too dry.

Here are some tips for buying a fresh tree and for keeping it healthy until you’re ready to take it down:

Shop for your tree at a lot that stores the trees under a canopy and out of the sun. If the trees are lying on the ground, notice if there’s wet burlap between them and if the vendor has been hosing them down frequently during the day. If the trees are displayed upright, choose one that’s standing in water or has wet burlap wrapped around the bottom of its trunk.

The fresher the tree is when you buy it, the longer it will last. Especially if the tree you buy has been imported from out of state, it was probably cut before Thanksgiving. If it’s already drying out, it will sag, discolor and drop its needles quickly once you get it into your warm house.

Put it up as soon as you get it home. Before placing the tree in the stand, cut 2 inches from the base of the trunk. If you can’t put it up right away, cut the 2 inches off and prop the tree up in a bucket of water, and keep the bucket full.

Add water to the tree stand several times on the first day. After that, keep the reservoir full. Check it every day.

Find a place for your tree that’s away from heating vents and the fireplace. The closer it is to a heat source, the quicker it will dry out. A heat source too close to the tree causes more than 1 in every 5 Christmas tree fires.

Take the tree down as soon as the needles start to fall off of it. Get rid of the tree promptly. Dried-out trees are a fire danger and should not be left in a home or garage or placed outside against the home.