By Hannah Stephenson
If you buy a real Christmas tree, how can you make sure it stays looking its best over the festive season?
Some 30% of people in the UK buy the real thing each year, only to be left with more needles on the floor than on the tree within a week of putting it up – especially if they haven’t chosen a non-drop variety such as the ever-popular Nordmann fir.
If you look after trees properly however, most of them should look good throughout the festive season. Here are a few tips to keep your tree in tip-top condition:-
- Cut trees remain the most popular, and it is essential that they should be fresh when purchased. When choosing, the needles should not be dull and dried up, and the branches not brittle. If you gently shake the tree, the outer needles should not fall off.
- When you’ve bought your tree, keep it outside in a cool, shaded place, preferably standing in water, until it is required indoors.
- Before bringing it inside, cut about half an inch off the base of the trunk to open up the pores of the tree and then place it securely in a water-holding stand or wedge it in a bucket with pebbles or screwed-up newspaper.
- Place it away from direct heat. Anyone who places the tree next to a radiator is asking for trouble.
- Keep the container topped up with water, as trees can get through a pint a day.
About 8.5 million trees are sold in this country every Christmas, of which half are Nordmann firs. The Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) which is popular in the eastern United States is narrower than other trees and therefore more suitable for smaller rooms.
Look for growers who are situated in an isolated place away from urban centres. They are less likely to get a big retail market and you may get a better deal from them.
Remember that trees sold retail in urban areas may have come from out of town and may have been exposed to drying winds in transit. They could have been cut weeks earlier. Ask the retailer whether his trees are delivered either once at the beginning of the season or at different times during the period.
Some people may opt for a tree that will last for years. If you are looking for a tree you can plant in the garden afterwards, go for a container-grown tree. You can plant it out after Christmas and may be able to bring it in again next year.
You should put it in a sheltered spot initially and slowly acclimatise it to the open before planting in its final home, ensuring the root collar is at ground level and to water it well.