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Never one to be a sore loser, the boy lugged home the tree, helped me wriggle it into its stand, said not a word as he helped to vacuum up the trail of pine needles it left from the front door to its final perch in front of our living room window. Watching me happily unwrap all the ornaments, he even stepped in to help. By evening we were chilling on the sofa, clutching big mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows, listening to classical music by the twinkle of our newly decorated tree. Outside our window, it had started to flurry. And even my favorite Grinch had to admit that maybe this tree of ours wasn’t so bad.

If you too have found yourself the proud owner of a real tree this season, check out these tips for making sure you eke maximum holiday pleasure from your purchase…

• While you’re picking out your tree, run your fingers along the branches to see how easily the needles come off. While some needle loss is inevitable, if the barest brush sends the needles pouring onto the ground, keep on looking for a fresher tree. You’ll also want to make sure that needles feel nice and flexible; brittleness generally indicates that the tree is dried out.
• When you bring it home, make a fresh cut at the bottom of the stump to ensure your tree will be able to suck up plenty of water. Make the cut about an inch up from the original bottom, then quickly plunk your tree into its stand and water.
• Find a spot for your tree that’s not smack dab in front of a heating vent, radiator, fireplace or other major heat source. Hot air will only serve to dry out your tree, and you’ll soon find you have more needles on the floor than on the tree itself.
• Give your tree plenty of water. On the first day you bring it home, especially, check periodically to make sure that the reservoir hasn’t been depleted; top it off whenever it starts to look low. This will give you a rough sense of how much water your tree demands – you might find that a single big daily watering does the trick just fine, but it might also turn out that more frequent attention is required. Never let the water dry out completely, as the exposed tree stump will start to seal up with pitch if it’s exposed to air for too long. Should this happen, it won’t be able to take up water as readily. The stump could, of course, simply be recut to revive the uptake, but when your tree’s all dressed and set-up, recutting is a bit of a pain.
• Make sure that all your string light cords are in good shape and that there aren’t any broken bulbs. Combine a frayed cord and a semi-dried-out tree and you just might find yourself with a major fire hazard. Meanwhile, don’t forget to unplug your tree each night before you head off for bed.
• Vacuum regularly. Yes, sadly, one of the drawbacks of a real tree is that they do make a mess. You’ll make your life a lot easier if you set the tree in a corner where it’s not likely to get bumped and brushed against, but even the best efforts to leave the tree be won’t stop the needles from shedding eventually. If you know you’re too lazy to drag out the big vacuum cleaner on a semi-regular basis,get yourself a Dustbuster-type minivac that you can keep by the tree.

With good care, your tree can generally provide 4-5 weeks of holiday spirit goodness.

o

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