Christmas Tree Tips

Preserving Your Christmas Tree

Make Your Christmas Tree Last

A Christmas tree can drink up to a gallon of water every day. However, when the cut end of the tree trunk is exposed to the air for more than a couple of hours it seals over with tree sap. If it is sealed over it cannot drink any water...so make sure trim off an additional 1/2" from the bottom of the trunk.

With water, your tree's needles can remain soft and stay on the tree for up to six weeks. Without water your tree will dry out, shed lots of needles and become an extreme fire hazard. So in the interest of having the best looking, neatest and safest tree, it should be mounted in a base with a water reservoir. Ideally the water reservoir should hold more than a gallon of water. Otherwise you may need to refill the tree stand more than once a day.

After you set up your tree, fill the reservoir with water. It may take a day or so before your tree drinks any water, but then once it does start drinking, check it frequently. If the reservoir runs dry, the trunk will start to seal over and the tree will dry out.

Christmas tree preservatives and cut flower preservatives contain the same ingredients: a food source for the plant, an acidifier (hard water is alkaline - making the water more acidic helps the plant take in water and food), and a disinfectant to prevent mold, fungi, and algae from growing.

So you can make your own Christmas Tree Food:

What You Need:

•1 gallon water

•2 cups light corn syrup

•4 teaspoons chlorine bleach

•4 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar (optional)

1. Nothing could be easier... mix the ingredients together and keep the solution in the base for the Christmas tree or vase, for cut flowers. Both trees and flowers will last longer in cooler areas away from direct sunlight.

2. Make sure the tree or flower always has 'water'. Regularly refill the vase or the base where the tree sits. In addition, you may wish to spritz the tree or flowers periodicially with water from a spray bottle.

3. You can store the solution for 4-5 days at room temperature in a closed container, or two weeks refrigerated.

Tips:

1. Do Not Drink! If you plan on making enough tree or cut flower preservative to store, label your container and keep it out of reach of children and pets.

2. Bleach and vinegar produce toxic vapors when mixed. If you add vinegar or lemon juice, add it to the water rather than mix it directly with the bleach.

3. If you don't have corn syrup, you can substitute 4 teaspoons of sugar, dissolved in the water. Some people add a penny to a sugar solution, so that the copper can act as a fungicide and acidifier.

4. Another common option is to substitute a can of acidic soft drink, like Sprite or 7-Up, instead of the corn syrup and lemon juice. Just add a can of (non-diet) soft drink to a gallon of water, with a splash of bleach.

5. For flowers, you'll probably want to cut the recipe: 1 quart water, 1/2 c. corn syrup, 1 tsp. bleach, 1 tsp. lemon juice.

This is an easy way to preserve your Christmas Tree and remember, a dried out tree is a fire hazard!

Karl Hess, Your Real Estate Agent on The Jersey Shore