New Year's miracles for the Christmas tree: we do everything to make it last longer

What should lovers of all living and natural things, including the unique pine aroma, do to ensure that the holiday passes without unpleasant surprises in the form of yellowed and crumbling pine needles? A live Christmas tree lasts a long time if you follow some simple rules.

Before the holiday starts

Here, as they say, you need to start from the very beginning. That is, from choosing a freshly cut healthy tree.

How do you know if your Christmas tree will last a long time?

• A fresh Christmas tree or pine tree has needles that are bright (not yellowed) and flexible, not brittle, oily to the touch, lush, looking upward, and not spread out in different directions. They can be bent for a long time, but they break off with great difficulty. Otherwise, there is a high risk of buying a “worn-out” Christmas tree that won’t last long.
• The needles on a fresh tree hold tightly. If you shake it and hit the base on the ground, the needles should not fall out.
• A fresh and healthy living tree has a pronounced pine aroma. The opposite suggests that the Christmas tree has most likely already frozen. Accordingly, it will crumble quite quickly.
• In order to last longer, the tree must not only be freshly cut, but also healthy. The disease may be indicated by a trunk that is too thin (less than 10 cm in circumference), the presence of fungus, mold, or strange growths on it.

In order for a purchased Christmas tree to last longer, it cannot be brought from the cold into a warm apartment immediately after purchase: sudden temperature changes are detrimental to it. Therefore, we make them not sharp. We let the forest beauty get used to the temperature of the entrance (by keeping it there for about an hour), then you can keep it for another 20 minutes in the hallway, where it is usually a little cooler than in the rest of the apartment. And only after such acclimatization can the tree be brought to where it will stand.

It is recommended to install and decorate living coniferous trees directly on the eve of the holiday, a maximum of 2–3 days before it. Therefore, if you purchased a Christmas tree in advance (5-10 days in advance), until this moment keep it on the balcony or loggia so that it does not stay warm.

Now let’s install

There are also important nuances here. So, we immediately reject the option of installing the Christmas tree on a cross or a special stand: it will not allow you to keep the trunk in a constantly wet state (and this is one of the essential conditions for the long life of a forest beauty). Accordingly, you will have to settle on the “bucket-sand-water” option.

There are often tips online to simply place the tree in water, without sand, but this is not entirely convenient or safe. This way the spruce will not be very stable; children or animals can easily knock it over. This means that there is a risk of dousing carpets with water and getting electric lights wet.

So, to properly install the Christmas tree you need to do the following:

1. The trunk of the tree from below is cleared of 8–10 centimeters of bark.
2. The Christmas tree is placed in a bucket, fixed with stones, covered with sand and compacted thoroughly.
3. If you need to cut off the top or several branches, the wounds must be treated with garden varnish or something similar.
4. Now the sand needs to be moistened by pouring it with a solution of water with aspirin (a couple of tablets per 1-2 liters) or with citric acid or vinegar. Depending on the size of the tree, sand can absorb from 1 to 3 liters of acidic liquid.

How to care for a decorated Christmas tree?

If you need the tree to stand for a long time and not fall off, the “set it and forget it” option is definitely not effective. You will have to take care of the forest beauty every day.

• You need to water with an acidified solution. For nutritional feeding, you can also add a couple of tablespoons of sugar to the water.
• Watering is carried out with settled water, from which the chlorine has evaporated.
• You need to spray the needles with water every day. Be sure to turn off the garlands first.
• The air in the room should also not be too dry. Care should be taken to moisten it, because Christmas trees are placed in apartments in winter, when central heating is on, drying out the air.

Do not place the Christmas tree near radiators or heaters. Excess heat will make it dry faster. The effects of drafts are also unfavorable for her. Therefore, proximity to a balcony door is also not the best; it creates a temperature difference.

And one last thing. For greater safety, it is better to turn off any garlands at night. This will ensure that the Christmas tree will not cause a fire.

A fragrant, bright, lush forest beauty of a Christmas tree does not have to be like this only on New Year’s Eve. Her life can be extended. True, like any living plant, it will require some care. But the minutes spent on this are more than compensated by the hours and days of its lush radiance and fragrance.