Preserving a Christmas Tree

[lollipop]

So, we usually don't get our tree until a week or so before Christmas. This year, we got it this past weekend. I water it daily, but I've noticed its already starting to get pretty dry and needles are starting to fall from it (when I bought it, I checked it and it was doing really well, healthy and soft). The bottom was cut off (to allow water in) but now I'm worried that its not going to make it until Christmas.

I would just go buy another one in a month or so, but ... the kiddo picked this one out and he loves it so much (its the first one he ever picked out) and it will really upset him if we have to get a new one.

I know you are all a bunch of smart people, so any tips on what I can do to preserve it and keep it as long as I can?

Also, staff, if this should be in the Questions forum, feel free to move it.

[Beguile's Mistress]

Try taking another thin slice off the bottom and put it in warm water immediately.  The exposed surface begins to "heal" pretty fast.  You can also drill a few holes about 1/4-inch in diameter and 1/2-inch deep into the trunk about an inch to an inch and a half from the bottom.  It allows more surface area for water absorption.  Also, an enclosed areas like a garage is better than an exposed porch or patio.

Check with a nursery and ask about a preservative you can add to the water.

[lollipop]

A good friend owns a nursery ... he said Miracle Grow, oddly enough.


The bottom has been cut off and I've kept it wet the entire time (never letting the water disappear from the stand). But, I hadn't thought of drilling holes in the bottom ... sounds like a job for hubby when he gets home.


Thanks.

[Star Safyre]

Next year, why not plant your Christmas tree!

Though they're sometimes a bit more expensive, potted trees stay fresh and green all season with a reduced fire hazard.  Also, planted trees make a nice little environmental impact, creating oxygen rather than filling a landfill or incinerator.  There are many huge pine trees dotting my family's yards, former yards, and in wild parks that stand as testament to a lovely Christmas years ago.  One Christmas tree stands in Ohio near the river right now taller than all the houses on the block; my dad and aunt still remember that holiday fondly now half a century later.

[lollipop]

Actually, my tree carcass serves a purpose and we buy from a farm, not a mass production site. My Dad has a six acre (however much that is in water, I have no idea) pond ... my dead tree along with about thirty others that we collect from people, go into the pond every year.  If we didn't collect the trees for the pond, they'd be taken to the Botanical Gardens where the limbs are stripped for mulch and the trunks of the trees used to make benches that are used. It's pretty cool, actually.

So there is no landfill addition ... merely habitats for the fish he sells (actually makes pretty good money off of them) to lay their eggs and repopulate the pond, since its man made there are no natural habitats within the water. He'd have to get the trees somewhere, turns out Christmas trees are the perfect place. And the money I spend buying that tree goes to help a small, independent farm/nursery (which also happens to be where we buy our pumpkins at Halloween and other stuffs during the spring) and the family who has owned it for generations.

Trust me, my father was (is still, sort of, even with the long hair) a hippie ... my entire life was "waste not, want not". We contemplated a live tree, but where we live its just not feasible.

[Hemingway]

What kind of a tree is it? We usually get a silver fir, mainly because it seems to last for ever. I know that, here at least, they're more expensive than ... well, whatever the other varieties are.

I also know that if it's cold outside - like here - it's supposed to be a good idea to leave the place somewhere cool for a while, so it doesn't heat up too quickly. From what I've been reading just now, it shouldn't be kept in very warm places at all ( i.e. next to ovens ).

[Serephino]

My mom used to put a crushed aspirin in the water, and it seemed to work pretty well.   

[Nadir]

Mythbusters had a section about this -

Christmas Tree Mythbusters

spoiler - Hairspray seems to work best.