A Guide to Caring for Your Christmas Tree

December 19, 2019

A Guide to Caring for Your Christmas Tree

Now that you have chosen your ideal Christmas tree, it’s time to learn how to take care of it in the best ways possible.

Here are our top tips for watering, preserving, and keeping your tree intact this holiday season.

Watering Your Christmas Tree

First things first, here’s how you should go about watering your Christmas tree.

Ideally, you would water your tree daily. For a six-foot Christmas tree, one gallon of water a day is optimal for freshness. Depending on the size of your tree, you can adjust this accordingly. For those of you with overly busy schedules, you may want to consider a tree watering system to ensure that it never gets forgotten.

Make sure that you monitor the water levels for your tree. Some may drink more or less water than expected, so you don’t want to let the water level in the stand fall below your Christmas tree base.

Lastly, make sure that you spray the tree needles with water. Since it will be in drier conditions than growing outside, your tree’s needles can easily dry out and become brittle. Using a spray bottle once a day to mist the branches will keep them fresh.

Preserving Your Christmas Tree

Preserving your Christmas tree actually starts when you pick it out. Make sure that you shake the tree before purchasing it to ensure that tons of leaves don’t fall off right away.

On your way home from the tree farm, consider wrapping it up in netting or plastic for safekeeping. Once you have it in your house, cut an inch off of the trunk and place it in water. You only need to make an additional cut if you bought it precut, otherwise it’s fine.

Preventing Dropping Needles on Your Christmas Tree

To prevent additional needles from falling, it’s best to initially choose a tree that holds its needles better (like a fir tree). Also, you will need to make sure it never dries out, as this will cause more needles to fall than necessary.

Lastly, choosing a tree that still has the root ball attached (that you plant after the Christmas season) is another way to ensure that you have a vibrant, intact tree.