To make your Christmas tree last throughout the holidays, add half a cup of sugar to your Christmas tree water.
No, no, no, everyone knows it’s a can of Mountain Dew.
Are you sure? I thought it was a can of Sprite.
My uncle swears by vodka in the tree water.
You have no idea what you’re talking about; you’re supposed to crush up an aspirin tablet and add it to the water.
Really? Because Miracle-Gro has this stuff which says it reduces needle-drop.
I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to use that stuff that comes with a bouquet of fresh flowers. Right?
No, you’re all wrong. It’s a mixture of bleach, corn syrup, and Epsom salts. That’s what does the trick.
Confused about how to make your Christmas tree last?
It’s no wonder. It seems as though everyone has their perfect “secret family recipe” to spruce up their tree. (Getting my puns in early.) And some of them are downright weird.
Aspirin? Does your tree have a hangover after all that vodka?
There is something you should give your tree that will keep it looking marvelous right up to the new year, and I’ll tell you what it is in a bit.
But first, there are a few things you should do right away that will ensure a gorgeous Christmas tree this year.
And it all starts when you pick out your tree.
If you’ve already got your tree up, there are still a few things you can do that will help keep your tree fresh. We’ll get to those in a bit too.
1. Choosing Your Tree
Whether you’re at a Christmas tree lot or a Christmas tree farm, look for a tree with good coloring. It should be a deep, vibrant green. Anything yellowish isn’t a good sign.
Of course, orange isn’t great either. It’s normal for a tree to have a few spots of dead needles on its interior, but if there are lots of needles on the ground under the tree, skip it and find another one.
2. Cut Straight
If you’re cutting your own tree, ignore the old advice to cut it on an angle. This does nothing to allow more water to be absorbed and makes getting your tree to stand straight in the tree stand a headache. (In which, you should take the aspirin, not your tree.)
A good flush-cut straight across the trunk allows for plenty of surface area for the tree to absorb water.
3. Drilling a Hole in the Bottom of the Trunk?
This always seemed odd to me – the idea that drilling a hole in the bottom of a tree trunk allows the tree to take up more water. That tree was doing just fine taking water up from the ground without a hole in the trunk.
I understand that some Christmas tree stands necessitate a hole to be drilled in the trunk. However, doing so isn’t necessary for the tree to absorb water. Plant cells are pretty good at absorbing water without our helping out.
4. Give Your Tree a Drink When You Get Home
Riding home on the top of your car can strip your tree of moisture. If you won’t be putting your tree up right away, store the tree outside in a cool, shady location with the trunk submerged in a bucket of water.
5. A Fresh Cut-Fresh Cut Christmas Tree
If it’s been more than three hours since you cut your tree down, you’ll need to make another fresh cut immediately before you put the tree up to allow it to absorb water again.
The tree’s natural defenses will seal off the cut with resin in an attempt to heal the wound. This natural scab makes it hard (if not impossible) for the tree to absorb water. Also, air will have been absorbed by the exposed cells, drying out that area of the trunk.
Most pre-cut Christmas trees are cut a couple of weeks before reaching you, so pre-cut trees need to get a fresh cut.
Immediately before you put your tree up, cut a straight 1/2” to 1” off the bottom. Go with 1” if you bought a pre-cut tree. This new cut will re-expose new cells and allow the tree to absorb water again.
6. Water, Water, and More Water
Remember when I said there was something you should feed your tree to keep it looking great?
This is it. Water. Plain water, and nothing else.
Nature knows best, and any tinkering we do may actually make your tree decay faster or cause the needles to fade or yellow. Not a great look for a Christmas tree.
As soon as your tree is up and in the tree stand, give it plenty of cool water.
And keep giving it plenty of water.
During that first week, trees may need to be watered every day to prevent them from drying out. You don’t want the cut portion of the trunk to be exposed to air again once it’s in the stand.
Make it a habit to check the water level on your tree daily.
Set a reminder on your phone if you have to. Remember, keeping the tree watered well isn’t just about a beautiful Christmas tree; it’s also about fire safety. A dry tree is a fire hazard.
7. Location, Location, Location
As with real estate, location is everything. Set up your tree in a room that can be kept relatively cool. Don’t set your tree up near a heating source. If you have to, close nearby vents or radiators and move any space heaters.
And by all means, ignore every Christmas card you’ve ever seen. Never set a Christmas tree up near a fireplace. It’s a fire hazard and will dry your tree out in no time.
What to do once your tree is up
Even if you’ve already set up your tree, there are still things you can do to ensure a green tree with little needle-drop this Christmas.
8. Cool the Room
“What did you get for Christmas?”
“Pneumonia.”
If you’re able, relocate your tree to somewhere cooler in the house. However, if you can’t move the tree, consider closing or turning off any heat sources close to the tree.
Is your tree near a south-facing window? Close the curtains during the day to keep it cool.
9. Humidity
Add extra moisture to the air by running a cool-mist humidifier or adding a few pebble trays filled with water in the room. Not only is this good for your tree, but it’s also good for you too, as winter air is especially dry.
10. LED Christmas lights are the way to go
It’s taken me a while to warm up to LED lights. There’s something nostalgic about the colors and soft glow of incandescent Christmas lights. LED lights always seem overly bright to me. Is that a Christmas tree or a UFO?
However, that nostalgia dissipated after I saw how much lower my energy bill was in December when I did switch to LEDs. And they last longer with fewer bulb problems, which means I’m not buying new lights every year – a good thing on so many levels.
LED lights use far less energy, and they don’t create heat as incandescent lights do. Again, this keeps your tree from drying out and helps prevent fires.
11. Check and Water Your Tree Daily
I’m repeating this here because it’s the most important thing you can do to ensure a lovely Christmas tree all through the season. In fact, I think you should stop reading and go water your Christmas tree right now.
Hey there, Rural Sprout reader, my name is Tracey, and I’m so glad you popped over to my bio. Originally from upstate NY, I’m now an honorary Pennsylvanian, having lived here for the past 12 years.
I grew up spending weekends on my dad’s off-the-grid homestead.
He built our rough-hewn log cabin when I was seven years old, and I spent much of my childhood roaming the woods and getting my hands dirty.
I learned how to do things most little kids haven’t done in over a century.
We were always busy. Whether it was pressing apples for homemade cider or trudging through the early spring snows of upstate NY to tap trees for maple syrup, there were always chores with each new season.
I learned how to preserve what we grew in our garden.
And dad was organic, long before it became the popular buzzword that it is today.
As an adult living in the modern world, I continue to draw on the skills I learned as a kid. I love my Wi-Fi, and knowing pizza is only a phone call away. But I’m okay with never revisiting the adventure that is using an outhouse in the middle of January.
So, these days I consider myself to be almost a homesteader.
I take an eclectic approach to homesteading, utilizing modern convenience where I want, and choosing the rustic ways of my childhood simply because they bring me joy.
I’m a firm believer in self-sufficiency, no matter where you live, and the power and pride that comes from doing something for yourself.
I garden, even when the only space available is the rooftop of my apartment. I’ve been a knitter since age seven, and I spin and dye my own wool as well. And if you can ferment it, it’s probably in my pantry or on my kitchen counter. I can’t go more than a few days without a trip deep into the Pennsylvania State Game Lands looking for mushrooms, edible plants, or the sound of the wind in the trees.
My gift of gab and sense of humor via the written word keeps me busy as a copywriter and freelance blogger.
If you need copy that grabs your readers by the eyeballs and keeps them glued to your page, then I’m your gal. You can find me at BesemerWrites.
Follow all of my crazy homesteading adventures on Almost a Homesteader and Instagram @traceyleezle
Peace, love, and dirt under your nails,
Tracey