For many families, picking out that perfect holiday tree often signals the official start of the holiday season.
Yet selecting the perfect tree can be quite overwhelming with so many different varieties and sizes that it often seems that a horticultural expert is needed to pick the best tree on the lot.
It doesn't have to be nearly so difficult.
Here are easy tips to make selecting and caring for your tree a truly joyful experience this year.
Selecting Your Holiday Tree
Freshness is the most important factor -- and testing for it is easy.
- Tree needles should be resilient. Take hold of a branch and pull your hand toward you allowing the branch to slip through your fingers. Most, if not all, of the needles should stay on the tree.
- A helpful trick is to lift a cut tree a couple of inches off the ground and let it drop on the base. Only a few needles should fall off if the tree is fresh.
- The tree should also have a fragrance and rich green color.
- Bend the branches -- they should be flexible and bend without much resistance.
- Once you have selected "the tree of all trees," it's important that you follow these helpful tips to keep your tree fresh, fragrant and fabulous throughout the entire holiday season.
Caring for Your Holiday Tree
- Once you bring your tree home, leave it undecorated and upright -- either outside or in a garage.
- Make a fresh cut across the trunk -- about one-inch above the existing base. Give your tree a fresh drink -- a variation of its own holiday cocktail!
- To keep your tree moist and fresh you can make your own tree preservative by mixing a quart of fresh warm water with 1/2 cup of light corn syrup and a teaspoon of liquid chlorine bleach in a two-gallon bucket. This solution helps keep trees moist because fresh-cut trees absorb and digest corn syrup as an energy source.
- Once inside, keep your tree away from drying heat sources such as sunny windows, hot air ducts, wood stoves and fireplaces.
- Transfer the tree to a freshly cleaned stand before decorating.
- For optimal freshness, top the reservoir off daily with additional solution.
