10 easy care tips for your Christmas tree

By Blair Smith, Marketing Manager, Evergreen

You need water every day to stay happy and healthy. So does your Christmas tree. The local plant experts at the Evergreen Garden Market have pulled together 10 easy tips to help you take care of your live Christmas tree so you can enjoy it all the way through the holiday season…and beyond.

Here’s a Secret Santa spoiler: most of them involve watering it.

Prepare it

• Store your Christmas tree in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to bring it indoors. Keep it sheltered from sun and wind to help it retain moisture.
• Use a Christmas tree stand that holds four litres of water and steadily holds the tree upright.
• Make a flat cut of 1-2 centimetres off the stump just before you bring it inside. After four hours the cut will be sealed with sap flowing out — which will stop fresh water from rising up the tree.
• Give enough space for your Christmas tree. The branches will drop and fill out once you’ve got it in the tree stand.

Care for it

• Use warm water for the first watering. This helps promote sap flow and replace lost moisture to the branches and needles.
• Add fresh water twice daily. Your live Christmas tree will drink a lot in the first couple of weeks.
• Keep it away from sources of heat. Turn off the Christmas lights when you go to sleep or go out.

Recycle it

• Take off the boughs and place them on top of garden beds for additional winter protection.
• Cut the trunk into smaller pieces to use for firewood. Or get creative by upcycling them to use in new ways — here are 50 ideas to upcycle logs and tree branches.
• Put your Christmas tree out front when your municipality is coming to collect it so they can chip it to use as mulch in the spring.

A Christmas tree that’s watered consistently will mean fewer needles on the floor and a more of that delightful fresh tree smell through December. If you follow these simple steps, your live Christmas tree should stay fresh indoors for three to four weeks.

Call the experts at the Evergreen Garden Market if you’ve got any questions about native trees (Christmas or otherwise), plants and flowers. For more Christmas hints, visit the Christmas Tree Farmers of Ontario website.