Revealed ; How To Keep Your Christmas Tree Fresher for Longer this Festive Period

If you want to leave your tree up until New Years Day or around that time, now is the right time to grab a tree, any time between the 28th of November and the 1st of December. If you’re sticking to the traditions and leaving your tree in place until the 12th night around the 5th of January, you should be looking at buying the tree this coming weekend, the 2nd & 3rd of December.

If you look after your tree properly you can expect it to last a solid 5-6 weeks, that’s why we’d recommend picking up a tree around this time in order to ensure you’re getting that picturesque scene on Christmas morning!

The biggest problem people make is not knowing exactly what they need. Get the measuring tape out and know how much space you have at home for the tree ensuring to leave at least 6-7 inches between the top of the tree and the ceiling – If you usually put a star or an angel on top, you’ll want to be leaving around 14 inches if possible. Most houses have around an 8ft ceiling, so a 7ft tree would be a perfect size.

Ideally you’re looking for a very dense tree that has that iconic, healthy silhouette and shape to it. Key thing to remember here - you shouldn’t be able to see the trunk of the tree through the branches! – If you can see the trunk, pick another one! If you’re already able to see through the branches at this stage it’s probably quite an unhealthy tree and won’t last until the big day. If you want to quickly check the general health of the tree, very gently grab one of the inside branches and pull your hand back out towards you - the needles should stay on the tree, if they fall off, that’s a sign the tree is already beginning to fade so just choose another option. 

Generally speaking, always look for the greenest tree available – this is a good indicator of tree health, the trees usually tend to transition into a dull greyish-green type colour if they lose a lot of moisture and dry out.

So once the tree is cut you really need to start thinking about it like a cut flower – It’s quite delicate, it needs protection and most importantly, it needs water. Most people would strap the tree to the roof of their cars when transporting it, if you’re doing so just make sure it is well covered as if it isn’t, the exposure to the wind at such a speed will dry the tree out and ultimately shorten its lifespan.

First things first, make a one inch cut off the bottom of the tree (Just double check to make sure the seller of your tree hasn’t already done so). This will ensure the tree can properly absorb the moisture needed to keep it healthy and that it doesn’t become clogged with dried resin from when the tree was originally felled. If the seller you’re dealing with makes this cut for you on site, we’d advise wrapping a damp cloth or tea towel around the base of three to just keep it moist until you get home. Once home, pop your tree into your base and keep it constantly topped up, otherwise the resin will begin to reform and congeal, which will make the tree dry out. On this note, make sure your tree base can hold at least 4 and a half litres of water, anything below this isn’t optimal.”

Every year we see recommendations of adding extra bits into the water to keep it fresher - Sugar in Water or a splash of 7-up works well, this helps keep the needles on the branches for longer. 

Basically, when you get the tree home, you’re fighting a losing battle to keep it from drying out. You can’t stop this process, but you can do an awful lot to slow it. Keep the tree away from fireplaces, stoves, radiators, electric heaters, just heat sources in general. The tree needs to be kept moist and out of the way of any draughts there may be. If the room the tree is in is particularly dry, you can pop in a humidifier to try and improve the conditions, although for most homes this won’t be an issue.