Background

Many people refer to a "real" cut Christmas tree, as opposed to an artificial tree, as a "live" tree. In fact, it is not, having been severed from its roots. Here, we'll refer to live trees as those that are purchased from a nursery with rootball intact, with the intention of planting the tree in the landscape after the holiday season. Whether you choose a live tree or a cut tree, there are many ways you can help it last longer and provide your family joy and memories throughout the season.

How to Care for Live Christmas Trees

Keeping a living tree healthy (yet dormant) inside your home and then successfully re-planting it outdoors is no small feat. It requires advance planning, timely care and at least a little cooperation from mother nature.

• Dig your planting hole in late fall before the ground freezes over, then fill the hole with loose straw or dried leaves to help keep the soil warm and workable until after Christmas. Cover the hole with a board to make sure no one trips in it and gets hurt.
• Reserve the soil you've dug from the hole in a garage or shed so it won't become frozen. You'll need it later!
• Purchase the healthiest balled-and-burlapped tree you can find and make sure that it's dormant at time of purchase.
• Once you get home, store the tree in your backyard or in an unheated garage (or shed) until just before the holiday.
• Bring your tree inside for as short a period as possible prior to Christmas (four to five days, tops) and put it in a cool, sunny room, away from heat sources.
• Set your thermostat as low as you can tolerate and close off any nearby heat vents. This will help the tree maintain its dormant state.
• Be vigilant about watering: You want the entire root system to stay moist top to bottom while the tree is indoors.
• If the tree is still dormant after Christmas, bring it outside without delay. To help the tree acclimatize to the cold, store it two to three days in an unheated garage or shed, then move it outdoors so the rootball can freeze prior to planting. If temperatures are above freezing after Christmas, simply allow the tree to transition outside for a day or two, then transplant.
• To plant, remove the insulation from your planting hole and transplant the evergreen as you would any balled-and-burlapped tree. For planting guidelines, visit the "Trees" section of this website.
• For added winter protection, treat the transplanted tree with an anti-desiccant spray.
• Be attentive to the tree's water needs throughout the winter. January and February, with their drying winds, can be exceptionally arid months in many regions.
• When the tree starts putting on new growth in the spring, apply an acid-loving formulation of slow-release plant food. Otherwise, feed weekly with water soluble plant azalea and rhododendron food.

Note: If your living Christmas tree awakens from dormancy while it's still inside your home, you can easily damage or kill it by transplanting outdoors after the holidays. In this instance, the safe option is to let the evergreen spend the winter indoors, preferably in the coolest, sunniest spot you can find. If you do this, make sure the tree gets plenty of water over the course of the winter, then transplant it in spring as soon as the ground is workable and nighttime temperatures can be expected to remain above freezing.

How to Care for a Cut Christmas Tree

To help your tree last through the holidays, take these common-sense steps to preserve its freshness:

• Make a clean, fresh cut across the bottom of the tree just before you bring it inside. This will enhance the tree's ability to take in water.
• Choose a stable, broad-based stand that's large enough to support the tree you've chosen. Make sure the stand holds a gallon or more of water and never allow the water level to drop below the cut end of the trunk. Be especially attentive to this the first few days you have the tree indoors. Freshly-cut trees tend to take up water at a surprisingly fast rate. Use a Christmas tree preservative in the water, according to directions on the package.
• Keep the tree away from heat sources such as warm-air ducts, fireplaces and wood-burning stoves as these will cause it to dry out quickly.
• Set your thermostat as low as comfort allows and keep it at a low setting until the holidays are over. If your furnace has a humidifier, increase the humidity level during the period the tree is in the house
• Turn off Christmas tree lights overnight and whenever nobody will be around to enjoy them. Overuse of tree lights wastes electricity, dries out the tree's foliage and increases the risk of fire.

Choosing a Christmas Tree

The first step in selecting a tree, of course, is deciding which species you like best. But other considerations, such as the characteristics of needle retention, fragrance and other attributes may affect your choice. To help determine the species that most closely matches your notion of the "ideal" Christmas tree, consider the following:

Fullness. Do you want a stout, bushy tree with plump, full branches capable of holding even the heaviest ornaments? Or a taller, rangier type that will give you a more open, lacy look, as well as more space for ornaments and trim?

Fragrance. For many folks, the scent of a Christmas tree is every bit as important as its appearance. If you fall into this category, note that most firs and white pines have the kind of rich, spicy evergreen aroma that can fill a home for weeks, while other evergreens, though slightly fragrant, are not nearly so pungent.

Shape. The classic (pyramidal) Christmas tree shape has widespread appeal, so that is what you'll typically find in nurseries and tree lots, where the majority of trees have been carefully trained and trimmed by commercial growers from the time they were saplings. And while this is just fine, don't overlook the charms of a healthy, beautiful tree that has a somewhat less than ideal shape. A slightly asymmetrical tree can provide a more natural, spontaneous look you may enjoy, and the worst irregularities can often be cured by a little judicious pruning once you get home. Balsam firs and red cedars, in particular, are both well loved as Christmas trees, but seldom exhibit the postcard-perfect symmetry of other commercially grown evergreens.

Size. Do you want your Christmas tree to dominate the room it's in, or merely blend with the rest of your home and holiday decor? Of course, either extreme is fine, as is anything in between. But at the very least, you should measure the space you wish to fill prior to choosing a tree, then take your tape measure along when you shop. When measuring inside your home, remember to account not only for the tree's height, but also for its spread.

Freshness.  Look for:

• Strong, well-foliated, flexible branches: Look for branches that still have some sap- and thus, strength and elasticity- left in them. Conversely, avoid trees with sagging, thinly foliated or lifeless-looking limbs.
• Pliable, well-attached needles with appropriate coloring for the type of tree you're buying: The needles of your Christmas tree should be affixed securely enough to their branches that they stay put when brushed or bent. In fact, you should need to tug a little to pull one off. Trees with brown-tipped or brittle needles, on the other hand, should be avoided, especially if the needles break in half or pop off the branch under light pressure. To test a cut tree for freshness, lift it up and bump the cut end against the ground two or three times. Obviously, the fewer the needles that fall off, the better. A really fresh tree, in fact, will lose hardly any needles at all.
• A gummy base: Gooey is good! The cut end of the evergreen should be sticky with sap, never dried out or hardened. This stickiness indicates that the tree has probably been harvested recently, and has not been in transit- or sitting on the tree lot- for weeks on end.

Finally, there are at least two simple things you can do to improve your odds of getting a really attractive, healthy tree. The first is to visit a Christmas tree farm and cut your own. This will ensure that you bring home a tree that is fresher than any you'll ever find at a nursery or on a lot, plus provide a fun outing and memorable experience for your family.

The second is to look for your tree on a bright, clear day when you have plenty of time to shop around, making sure that everyone is dressed for the weather. With good light, adequate time and warm clothing, you'll all be far more likely to select a tree you can be proud of- and perhaps even enjoy yourselves in the process!