December is finally here and with it often there is a tradition to get a Christmas tree, however there are a few safety and maintenance tips to ensure you have a happy safe holiday this season. One of the most important things you can do is to have proper care of your tree from purchase to the time the tree is no longer needed at your house.
The most important thing you can do is to WATER your plant and make sure there is plenty of moisture when you get your live plant. People that get no trees or have plastic plants have a better and easier life since they don’t have to deal with the costs, the pick up and removal of the tree and decorating. Although it can be a fun family tradition, growing a tree typically takes at least 10 years and cutting it down is not the most friendliest thing for the environment. But we digress. The reason the moisture is the most important is to keep the tree alive and healthy and prevent pine needles from losing color and dropping off. You can do a dryness test when you first pick out a tree and run your hands over the needles to see if they are too dry or fall off or if you shake the tree lightly then some trees that are too dry will have the needles fall off.
Make sure your tree stand can give the tree between quart of water to 1 gallon of water. This may vary based on tree and stem diameters. Keep the tree’s base wet and cool and shaded without direct exposure to heat or house air vents. Keep it away from fire place, heaters and direct sunlight. It may be useful to lower room temperature. Keep your tree water clean. No additives are needed.
When you first get the tree home though make sure to cut off the base between a quarter of an inch to an inch off the end of the trunk to help it absorb water because some trees have left over resin that blocks intake. If your tree has already had this cut done recently within 12 hours of purchase it my not be as critical.
A tree that become too dry should definitely be removed from you house as any possible spark or high temperature heat can quickly cause your tree to burst into flames and become a conflagration in a matter of seconds. So definitely keep the tree away from radiators, fireplace and other heat sources. Often a tree that is well cared for can last three to four weeks before its dryness becomes dangerous.
Make sure to keep your water above the base of the trunk so that the water is doing its best absoption and prevents the ends from drying and forming resin which can prevent water uptake. And lastly it’s a good idea to get the tree out of there before it gets too dry to prevent messy needle to clean up later.
Again, Mr. Rossen from Rossen Reports talked about how trees that become too dry can become a dangerous blaze if a fire happens. It gets out of control in under 2 minutes on a dry tree.
Please check out these clips:
https://www.today.com/video/how-to-enjoy-your-real-christmas-tree-without-danger-of-fire-1108991555568
AND
In literally less than 10 seconds your tree can go up in flames and smoke if your light decoration has a spark or electrical problem. That is extremely frightening and the difference between a watered moist plan versus dry pine tree is the difference between night and day.
My friend told me about how dangerous a Christmas tree fire can be and inspired this article. Now we know and so do you. Be safe. Have fun. Be savvy.
Happy holidays from all of us at SWM.
