How to find and care for a real, live Christmas tree
This Thursday, we get a day full of football, family and food. It is also a day when we get to reflect upon all of the things we are thankful for in our lives. Thanksgiving is also the opening of the holiday season. At our house, before the turkey is even out of the oven, plans are being made for the upcoming days and weeks.
When your family is making holiday plans, be sure to include time to go out and get your Christmas tree. It's in your best interest to shop early for your tree because the supply has been very tight for the last three seasons.
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The supply of Christmas trees has been affected by many factors, ranging from the economic crisis in 2008 to poor weather-related growing conditions in more recent years. The situation is improving. This year at our store, the tree order we placed had less trees cut from it than in the past couple of years.
While the supply will be better, unfortunately, the prices will not. Prices are increasing again this year because of the increased costs related to getting the trees out of the field and to the places where they are being sold.
You have several types of trees to choose from. Most will either be from the Pine family or Fir family. Firs are the best. They are the most traditional, have the best shape, the best scent and will last the longest. Within the Fir family, the best tree you can buy is a Fraser Fir.
The key to keeping a tree fresh is to get it into water as soon as you can. Unless you go to a farm and cut your own tree, all the trees you are choosing from were cut around the same time. Cut Christmas trees are like cut flowers. They need to be kept in water to stay fresh for a longer period of time.
Before you put the tree in the stand, it needs to have a fresh cut put into the base of the trunk. The tissues of the tree need to be opened up for the tree to be able to take in fresh water. You should be able to get a fresh cut on the tree when you buy it. It is best to have the fresh cut the same day you are putting it up. If you are waiting to put the tree up, consider placing it in a bucket with water. If this is not possible, it will need to be cut again.
Once the tree is set up and decorated in the house, be sure to keep the water reservoir in the stand full of water. When you first put the tree up, it will be thirsty. It's not unusual for the stand to need water every day at first. After a week or so the tree will need less water.
I have always lived in a house with a real Christmas tree. Some people think it is bad for the environment to use a real tree, but in fact, the opposite is true. The trees used for this tradition are grown as a crop. If the tradition did not exist neither would the trees. To fulfill the tradition there are hundreds of millions of trees growing now to the benefit of the environment.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How to find and care for a real, live Christmas tree
