Friday

Tip-o-day

Will you be murdering a live tree to bring into your home this holiday season?
As barbaric as we are beginning to believe this is… we will too.

We’re just not ready to let go yet. While traditional – the world population has grown so much that cutting down trees in such enourmous numbers just to bring them into the house for a couple weeks then throw them out in plastic bags to go to the dump is starting to seem a little foolish.
I will pause here while you call me Grinch and boo.......

I imagine the plastic tree is just around the corner for us. It just makes more environmental sense.
The other option – which is a bit trickier, is getting a truly live tree in a burlap ball. This takes more planning, especially here in the northeast where you would need to dig your planting hole ahead of time - before the ground freezes. Also with this type of tree you can really only have it in the house for a very short time, otherwise it will start to think its spring when it should be staying dormant for the winter.

I suppose we could abolish the tree entirely, but then our children will disown us and go have Christmas with another family.

Soooo, your tip for today is tree care.

To keep your recently murdered tree fresh- the most important thing is water. You may have heard of folks using aspirin or sugar or even bleach added to the water to keep a tree fresher longer. Really these are unnecessary. Keeping the tree moist is the key.

When you bring you tree home – if you are not going to put it up right away – put it in a bucket of water in a shady spot outside until you are ready. If you did not cut the tree yourself, cut about ½ inch off the trunk to allow water to be drawn into the wood.
Once the tree is in the stand be sure it has water ALL the time. A tree can drink up to 1 gallon of water a day, especially in the first few days its up.
Check the tree before you go to bed and again when you wake up.
If the water runs dry – the tree trunk will sap over and the tree will no longer draw water, and it will dry up to a crisp and loose its needles in a big pile on the floor and become a fire hazard as well as an eyesore. If this happens you may be able to get it to drink again by either peeling some of the bark off or drilling into the trunk below water level.

Remember, keep trees away from heat sources and NEVER put the tree next to the fireplace no matter how romantic it looks. One tiny spark and WHOOSH. Christmas trees will burn faster than you can get to your fire extinguisher (you DO have a fire extinguisher on each floor of your home…right?!)
And for those of you celebrating both Christmas and Hanukah this December 25th – please light your menorah on the other side of the room from your Christmas tree.
This is not religious segregation…just good common sense.

Joy and peace.