Fresh Christmas Tree Care

Christmas Trees| Holiday Plants

Whether you are a fresh Christmas tree pro or a fresh Christmas tree newbie, you should find  information here to help you best care for your fresh tree.

Before you pick the perfect tree, scope out a spot in your home or business that will work.   Consider the following:

  • Height: 
    • Take into account how high your ceilings are and what your space can accommodate.
  • Width: 
    • You may want to take some measurements of where you are placing your tree to see how wide your tree can be.
  • Electrical Outlets: 
    • Placing your tree close to an outlet will minimize the amount of extension cord(s) you will have to use.  
  • Heat Source Locations: 
    • Your tree will not like being close to a heat source.  The cooler you can keep your tree, the better.  Don’t forget to look up and down and see where your heating vents are.  You can dry your tree out lickety-split if you overlook this stp!

 Once you have picked the perfect tree, an FGS associate will cut off the bottom of your tree so that it can absorb water.  After a tree is cut, the sap oozes out of the bottom of the tree and seals the bottom. Not good.  Cutting off an inch or so off the bottom will make it as though the tree was just freshly cut.  

Place your tree securely in the stand.  Make sure you have a stand that will adequately support your tree.  When you place your tree in the stand, do NOT trim or whittle the bark at the base of the trunk. The outer layers of the tree are the best at absorbing water.

Your tree will need a LOT of water in the first few days.  In fact, some trees will drink up to a gallon of water a day!  The tree will drink most of its water in the first week, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to keep watering it.  You want to fill the tree stand with water and keep it filled. To calculate approximately how much water you need, consider that you need about 1 quart of water per inch of the trunk’s diameter.  The temperature of the water does not matter, and although some may say to add aspirin or sugar, there is no real evidence that will help. Water is the key! One benefit of the rainy fall we had is that Christmas tree needles are very moist due to all the rain!  (Count on us to provide your silver lining, folks.) 🙂

Here are some reminders of what NOT to do:

  • Don’t drill a hole in the bottom of your tree.  This will NOT help your tree take in water. Again, most of the water is absorbed in the outer layers of the trunk.  
  • Don’t overload your tree with electrical circuits.  A well-watered tree is pretty fire retardant, but we still want you to be careful.
  • Under no circumstances should you leave lights on when you are not home or overnight.  We just want you to be as safe as possible (and save on energy costs).

If you haven’t purchased your tree yet, we received a beautiful batch of trees this week and have the perfect one for you!  We hope to see you soon and would love for you to tag a picture of your decorated tree with @fgsdurham or #fgsdurham and #bringgreenhome!  We can’t wait to see your festively decorated trees! Merry Christmas, friends!