How To Care For A Live Christmas Tree

'Tis the season to decorate your home for the holidays! Many people opt to purchase a live Christmas tree to serve as the focal point of holiday decor. Sure, they're more fragrant and lush than their artificial counterparts, but live Christmas trees also require care to keep them from drying out--and reducing the risk of fire.

If you've picked a live tree, use these tips as a guide to keep it fresh and hydrated.

*Use a reservoir-type stand, which will hold adequate water to keep the tree hydrated.

*Before you put the tree in the stand, cut a half-inch thick disk of wood from the base of the trunk. Don't cut into your tree at a V-angle; if you do, it's more difficult to hold the tree in the stand and won't allow as much water to travel throughout the tree.

*Keep your tree well-watered. The National Christmas Tree Association recommends a stand that can hold one quart of water per inch of stem diameter.

*Make sure your tree isn't near any sort of heat source. And if you can, lower the temperature in the tree room to slow the drying process.

*Monitor your tree's freshness. Once the tree is dry, throw it out. Visit www.realchristmastrees.org and type in your zip code to locate a nearby tree recycling program.

*Don't burn any part of your Christmas tree in a fireplace or wood stove when you're finished with it.

Do you prefer a natural or artificial Christmas tree?

Photo: Flickr.com/needoptic

Katy Ryan | Comments () |

Christmas Trees

European and Mediterranean cultures also have episodes in the long saga that is part of the history of christmas trees. On the solstice, known as Saturnalia, the Romans decorated their homes with evergreen boughs. This honored the God Saturn whose domain was agriculture. Further north, the Celtic Druids used evergreens on the darkest day of the year to symbolize eternal life. These trees were not decorated as we know them today. They were not much more decorative than the famous Charlie brown christmas tree. This is because the function of these evergreen boughs was more protective than celebratory.

Classic Car Insurance

When choosing the decorations to use, or the places that you're going to put them, go with what you like, after all, unless it's on the outside of your house where the neighbours will see them more than you will, you're the one who's going to be living with them - so don't go with anything you couldn't live with for those few weeks over the Christmas holidays.

Craig Sedoris

Often removing the live Christmas tree at the end of the holiday season can be one of the trickiest things to do, especially if you want to avoid a major cleaning nightmare later. Put an old sheet down and lay the tree on it to drag it out of the door. This will save you from having to pick up all those needles!

Bob Urbanowski

Don't think we've ever watered a Christmas tree after the first load..