If you’re as enthusiastic about the holiday season as I am, you probably like to decorate your Christmas tree early, and that means bringing home a live tree soon after Thanksgiving and hoping it lasts several weeks.
If you’re not diligent at the start of the season, however, you could end up with more fallen pine needles than presents under the tree by Christmas Day.
There are a number of tricks to lengthen the longevity of your tree, and this goes for a tree picked up at the local tree lot, or a tree cut down on a Christmas tree farm (or even out in the forest, as we love to do in Central Oregon).
None of these tricks involve the advice you often hear for extending the bloom of cut flowers, like cutting the bottom at an angle or adding sugar (or molasses, aspirin, commercial preservatives, or other unnecessary additives) to the water.
In fact, the only things you’ll need to ensure a nice, long life for your tree is a clean cut and plenty of water.
Here are the steps I take every year to keep our Christmas tree fresh and beautiful all month long (and even past the New Year).
Start with a healthy, vibrant tree.
This is especially important if you’re buying a specimen from a tree lot, as the tree may have been cut a couple weeks prior and transported a long distance to reach the vendor. Don’t be afraid to ask the vendor where the trees came from and how recently they were harvested.
Before bringing a tree home, run your fingers along the branches and look for...
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