Six Tips When Choosing a Live Christmas Tree

Here are six tips when choosing a live Christmas tree and how to keep it beautiful throughout the holiday season.

1. Measure the space.  Know your ceiling height – 8′, 9′, 10′, etc. Also know if the space will support a fat tree or if you should consider a tree more narrow.
2. Ideally, the tree will fill the desired space to the max.  Half a foot below the ceiling height including stand and topper would be perfect.
3. Some needle loss is natural.  Excessive needle loss is not.  Look at the branches, they should be full of needles and have  a good green color (for the species.)
4. Resin is an indication of a heathy tree. Grip your fingers along a branch and pull forward.  Sufficient resin will cause your hand to become sticky.
5. Before you bring the tree home, have the stem re-cut.  Ideally, this would be done at home so that you can put it in water as soon as possible.  For most of us, it isn’t.  As such, have it cut where you buy it and soak the fresh cut in water when you get home.
6. Keep watered and away from drafts.

Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend\’92s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence\’99 Face Book Fan Page.

Helen  Yoest is a garden writer, speaker and garden coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™.

Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook Friend’s page, Helen Yoest; or facebook Like page, Gardening With Confidence™

Helen is a field editor for Better Homes and Gardens and Country Gardens magazine and she also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum.

Helen is co-founder and contributor to:

Beautiful Wildlife Garden
You can follow Beautiful Wildlife Garden on Twitter @Wildlife Garden and facebook at Wildlife Garden.

AND

Helen is the founder, publisher and editor of:
Tarheel Gardening – your online resource for North Carolina gardening enthusiasts.

You can follow Tarheel Gardener.com on Twitter @TarheelGardenin and on facebook at Tarheel Gardening.com.