As a tree service company, we have quite a few people call us this time of the year to ask about how to properly care for live Christmas trees. The answer may surprise you with how simple it really is.
Water it.
Yes indeed, that really is the main thing that you need to be doing for your tree this holiday season. There are lots of gimmicks out there that you can waste time and money on that are simply not effective. We’ve heard them all over the years. From adding sugar, molasses, flower preservatives or even Gatorade to doing tree injections or using fertilizers. Just ignore the nonsense, your tree just needs clean fresh water. This especially so in the first week or so after you bring it inside as the tree is stressed by the change in air temperature. You would be surprised how much water it may need too, so top off your tree stand well every day.
Does lowering the temperature in the house help the tree hold on to its needles longer? Yes, but only if you are talking about a dramatic temperature difference. If you keep your house at 80 degrees normally and you are dropping it to 78 degrees for the tree, you probably won’t notice a change at all. But if you kept the temps down in the mid 60’s as often as possible, that has been known to preserve a noticeable number of needles over the holiday season.
We are also sometimes asked about pruning or shaping the tree after you have it up in your house. Unfortunately, we only trim trees that are outside of your home folks, sorry. You yourself however should feel free to trim away at any offending twig but be sure before you cut. Remember, you can’t glue it back on!
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And occasionally we are asked about planting a Christmas tree after the holidays are over. We certainly do offer tree planting as a service and would definitely plant any evergreen you might have for us. But for those who somehow may not know, please pay attention to the following.
No, you cannot replant a tree that has been cut completely away from it’s root base. Once a tree has been severed at the base, it is just a matter of time before it will die. If you want a Christmas tree that you can replant, you will need to buy one that has been either raised in a pot or dug up with an intact root ball. And you will definitely still need to water it!
This really is the most wonderful time of the year and the Christmas tree is easily the best part of it all. But I’m sure that everyone expects that opinion from tree guys!
Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone here at Good Guys!
