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Once you've picked out the perfect Christmas tree, there are three things to remember when it comes to making it last through the holidays: fresh tree, fresh cut, fresh water.
"That's really the key thing in all of this, is to get a tree that's fresh," Bert Cregg, a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University, told Business Insider.
Here are a few steps you can take to make sure your tree looks as good as the ornaments throughout the holiday season.
When you're inspecting which tree to take home, Cregg recommends doing a pull test. "Take your thumb and forefinger and kind of pull along the chute," he said. "You shouldn't have needles coming off in your hand."
Cregg said Fraser and Noble firs are both known for their needle retention. "If you take care of [your tree] properly, with those species, you shouldn't have any problems," he said.
Both experts said before you put the tree in its stand, saw off about an inch from the bottom of the trunk. The workers on a tree lot may cut it for you. It's especially important for trees that have been shipped from different parts of the country.
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Once a tree is harvested, it may take a couple of days before it arrives at a store. "Removing any of the grime or resin that's accumulated to open up the vasculature is important," Justin G. A. Whitehill, lead of the Christmas Tree Genetics Program at North Carolina State University, told BI.
Clearing away that residue "makes it easier for the tree to take up water," Cregg said.
Keeping your tree hydrated is crucial. "Get the tree into fresh, clean water as fast as possible," Whitehill said.
Both Whitehill and Cregg said trees can suck up a lot of water in the first week or so. After that, you won't need to refill the container as often.
"We recommend the stand should hold about a quart of water for every inch of diameter of the trunk where the cut is," Cregg said. A 7-foot tree may have a 3-inch diameter, so a suitable stand should hold 3 quarts (0.75 gallons) of water, for example.
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In this case, you may want to go for substance over style. "Oftentimes it's actually the less expensive, plastic stands that hold more water," Cregg said.
If the stand runs dry, it can be difficult to get the tree to take up water again, Cregg said. That's why it's important to keep checking the water level.
Maybe you've heard about adding aspirin, soda, or bleach to your tree's water supply. That's unnecessary, Cregg said. "The research has shown just fresh tap water is all people need to do — and plenty of it," he said. "Just keep that reservoir filled."
