Make Your Christmas Tree Last until the Big Day
Are you bringing home a Christmas tree? Attending to that cut tree during the first few days is critical to making it last through the season! See our tips on buying and caring for your holiday tree, plus how to recycle that tree.
3 Essential Christmas Tree Care Tips
If you only remember three tree tips, here they are!
- Cut off the bottom of the trunk (at least an inch). Any pre-cut tree will have sealed its original cut with sap so it can’t suck up the water it needs!
- Put the tree in the water immediately! Think of your tree as a cut flower. It will not survive long without water; you may not see the tree wilt, but it will never be the same if it dries out. You can start by just placing the tree in a bucket of cool water in your garage, but don’t store it for more than a day or two.
- Never let the water run dry. Check on water levels twice a day for the first week!
Now that we’ve shared our three most critical tips, here is more expert advice on buying and caring for your Christmas tree.
Read Next
Buying the Christmas Tree
- If possible, buy a freshly-cut tree from a reputable nursery or cut your own (with the land owner’s permission). Why? Many of the trees for sale were cut weeks before.
Freshly cut Christmas trees are farmed specifically for their purpose and to support local agriculture. - If you’re buying a tree that can be replanted later, remember that a tiny percentage of these trees survive after being indoors in the winter. To give them the best chance of survival, only keep a live tree in your house for a MAXIMUM of one week. The heat and dry air in a home can really take a toll on a living pine tree.
- Give trees 2 to 3 days to adjust by letting them sit in a garage or “in-between” transitional spot before and after they are in the home.
- As reported by growers across the United States, the top-selling Christmas trees are the Scotch pine, Douglas fir, white pine, and balsam fir, in that order.
- If there are many needles on the ground around the trees, go elsewhere.
- To check a tree’s freshness, pull your hand toward you along the branch. Needles should not fall off.
- If you want to keep your Christmas tree potted and in the house after Christmas, a Norfolk Island pine would be the best choice—they are commonly kept as houseplants. Check with a local florist or nursery in your area.
Caring for Your Christmas Tree
- When you bring your tree home, you’ll need to saw an inch off the bottom of the trunk before setting it in water. When trees are cut, pitch oozes out and seals the pores.
By sawing off the base, you will open up the pores, and the tree can absorb water. A straight cut is fine; there’s no need to cut at an angle. You can cut even more off the bottom if you need to fit the tree in your home. Never trim the bark, though. - Make sure you have a tree stand with a one-gallon capacity. The tree will drink up to a quarter of water from every inch of its stem diameter.
- Watering is critical. A freshly cut tree can consume a gallon of water in 24 hours!
- Fill the tree stand with water and keep it filled.
- Never let the water level go below the tree’s base.
- Plain water is fine.
- Indoors, keep the tree away from heating ducts or other heat sources. The lower the temperature, the better the tree will do.
- One old Vermonter we knew always packed his tree stand with well-watered soil and planted the tree in the mixture. Keep the soil wet.
- Some people add aspirin, Sprite, or sugar to the water; we can’t say whether these help. Again, water is the vital element.
- See more advice for keeping your Christmas tree fresh.
How to Recycle a Real Christmas Tree
What do you do with your tree after the festivities have ended? Live, biodegradable Christmas trees can be turned into mulch. Most cities have recycling events or even curbside pickup during the weeks after Christmas. All you do is donate the tree, and they’ll shred it down to natural mulch to take home and use in your garden. Check with your city government about tree pick up or drop off. Learn more ways to recycle a Christmas tree.
Replanting a Live Tree
Sometimes, we’re asked about replanting a live tree. First, you can only replant trees that came with a living root ball (that hasn’t been cut or damaged). Second, the tree can’t be dried out; most Christmas trees will only last about a week (at the most) indoors in a heated home. But if you kept the tree in a cool area or near a window, it could be worth a try.
With those caveats, you’ll want to plant the tree immediately after Christmas. If you’re in a cold climate and the ground isn’t prime for planting, mulch around the tree’s base and set it aside in a cold, sheltered area until the temperature warms. In the meantime, water the tree every few weeks.
Learn More
Where did the tradition of Christmas trees come from? Read about the origins of popular Christmas traditions here!
Catherine Boeckmann
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Our county has recycled the trees for 30 years, the way the article suggests. Game and Fish weigh them down and place them on the ice in our reservoirs and when it melts in the Spring they sink and make a perfect habitat.
There is a local exotic feline rescue center that saves large cats from all over the country. There are tigers, lions, bobcats, lynx, etc. saved from illegal ownership, failed zoos and other not humane conditions. The cats LOVE the old Christmas trees and if you donate you get a free tour! And get to see them playing in the snow. It’s a great organization!
When I lived in state of Louisiana there was a program after the holidays where you could leave your used live tree outside near your trash pick-up area and it would be donated to an organization that would airlift the trees to south Louisiana and drop them in the disappearing marshlands in attempt to help rebuild the landscape.
Years ago my family went to my Aunt's in NJ for Christmas. They had a very large weeping willow out front that smothered the whole front lawn. It was removed and a large hole was left. After Christmas the 5 ft tree from the celebration was stuck in the hole. We visit years later. I commented on the beautiful 20 foot Christmas tree in the front and my Aunt said that was the tree from 10 years ago. How wonderful that it took root and thrived!!
Such a warm and touching memory from Robert Davis. It rekindles my appreciation for family roots, and growth.
Water in stand first couple of days after being cut then ran out for a day before noticed.
Does bottom have to be cut again or will it soak up anymore water?
Hi, Jean: It should still take water OK, but as the saying goes, there’s only one way to find out! Put some water in and see if the level goes down. If not, cut again. Whatever you do, have a Merry Christmas!
"couple inches off the bottom" Really - so much? The trees available around here were cutoff so far above the ground to begin with, that removing an inch or two of trunk requires the removal of the lowest branch just to get the trunk into any available holder. So much then for the nice symmetrical tree.
Wouldn't a half inch, as suggested elsewhere, be just as effective? Another thought, since the outer layers absorb the most water, why not just shave say a 1/4" off the entire bottom and cut just the outer layers an additional 1/4 inch?
A 1/4-inch off the entire bottom is perfectly fine. We were just being casual about it, but you do not need a full two inches, especially given reasons such as yours.
Thank you or the handy reference. Have not had a real tree in the house since 2000 or so ! Forgot how heavenly they smell. Trunk had been trimmed fresh just before I bought it, will do the boiling water thing to reopen the sap clogged spots. Will add sugar to the water as Momma used to ( I remembered after reading it here LOL ). I have never had a tree with quite this sweet smell. It has shorter semi soft needles but not as short and firm as a fir. Best i can describe the smell is "light fruity pine" . All the tags were goofed up where i bought it, could this be a Scotch Pine?
