Christmas Tree Care Basics

When properly maintained, it's possible to display a live Christmas tree from late November through New Year's Day.  To do this, however, requires vigilant attention and care by you, the homeowner.  The following are some basic tips that will help you care for your live Christmas tree and make it last as long as possible this year.

The first step in maintaining a healthy Christmas tree is choosing a good specimen from the farm.  The real key is freshness.  If you don't select a fresh tree to begin with, you’ll be fighting a losing battle when it comes to caring for it throughout the season.  Inspect the tree carefully before you buy it.  If it’s precut, how long ago did the cutting take place?  Has it started to brown or dry out?  The branches and needles should be green and flexible.  Shake the tree vigorously or tap it against the pavement on the butt of its trunk.  If it loses a large number of needles, that's a good sign that it's dried out.

Once you get your tree home, it's critical to get it in water as soon as possible.  Before putting it in the stand, you should make a fresh cut on the trunk, about ½ to 1 inch up from the existing end.  This will enhance the tree’s ability to absorb water.  Before setting up the Christmas tree stand, look around the room and consider the best possible location.  It's important to stay away from any sources of open flame or heat.  If you have a fireplace, consider a corner on the opposite side of the room.  Also stay away from radiators or heat vents in the floor or wall.  The warm air from a heat vent will dry out a conifer's foliage very rapidly.

Once the tree is in its stand and positioned in the right location, you'll want to consider the type of decorations to be used.  Avoid using candles or anything with an open flame.  Inspect your strands of Christmas lights carefully; are any of the cords frayed or worn?  If so, discard those strands and buy some new ones.  Also, choose light sets that don't heat up and will remain cool to the touch.  You should also try to avoid any decorations that are extremely heavy.  Depending on the type of tree you've chosen, the branches may be too delicate to support heavy decorations, and could break.

Once it's set up and decorated, ongoing maintenance for your live Christmas tree consists primarily of keeping it watered.  The tree’s trunk should always be submerged in water, with additional fresh water being added every day.  Allowing the water level to fall below the cut in the trunk will result in it healing over.  This process is not reversible, and it will cause the tree to dry out quickly because it inhibits the tree's ability to drink water.

An easy way to make sure you don't forget to add water to the stand is to purchase an automatic Christmas tree watering system.  Automatic watering systems come in many different styles, shapes, and sizes, but all are quite affordable and serve the same purpose: they make it easier for you to keep your tree watered.  If you're going on vacation during the time your tree is set up, consider using multiple automatic watering systems to extend the tree's water supply for a week or more.

As you can see, caring for and maintaining a live Christmas tree isn't that difficult; it just requires some vigilance on your part.  With a little attention and some good common sense, anyone can extend the display of their Christmas tree a little longer through the season.