Christmas time is here. For those who decorate, they’ll need to ask the long standing question regarding Xmas décor — Real tree or fake tree?
The ease, cleanliness, and reusability of fake trees is hard to beat… but those who are festively brave enough to put up a real fir in the living room might enjoy the smell, element of nature, and props from friends and family
“I always have a real tree every year… they’re awesome to bring inside. They’re very fragrant. It just adds to the holiday season,” said Jason Orth, manager at Campbell’s Nursery on 56th and Pine Lake Road. He offered some general advice and tips for residents who, like him, dare to do this “old tradition.”
Sadly, drought conditions in recent years have impacted Christmas tree growing areas in states like Wisconsin, according to Orth, which has a good climate for firs — a popular festive evergreen. Orth says this means those smaller trees have struggled to make it to the harvest season.
Despite this, “The Christmas tree crop this year is looking really good. Lots of nice Fraser firs. Balsam firs is primarily what we have at Campbell’s… While there have been some shortages, the well established [tall trees] have been doing pretty good. We have plenty of seven, eight, nine foot, ten footers,” Orth said.
If you’re thinking of a real tree this year, Orth says now is the time to get it.
“Generally, the peak season for buying Christmas trees is the weekend after Thanksgiving. As soon as Thanksgiving is over, they want to switch over to Christmas… we did sell a lot of trees over the Thanksgiving weekend… We’ve sold probably half of our trees already,” said Orth.
So you’ve decided to pull the trigger on a real tree, how do make sure it’s taken care of? Orth recommends:
- Make sure you have the correct stand for the size tree you buy — “This is the biggest thing, so you can make sure your tree stands up right through the holidays.”
- Make sure you water your tree — “That tree will drink quite a bit that first 24 hours after you get your tree set up. You always want to cut a little bit off the bottom just to open the tree up so it’ll drink some water.”
- Keep your tree away from heavy vents which blow warm air — “If your tree is really close to a hot vent, that can dry your tree out.”
If your dreading the inevitable shedding of needles from your tree, Orth reminds, this is a natural part of the process. He recommends getting a tree-skirt to catch the bulk of those needles, which can be pulled and emptied.
Once the holidays are over, Orth suggests completing the circle of life and donating your tree to programs like Scouting 4 Trees from the Lincoln Boy Scouts, where scouts will pickup Christmas trees and deliver them to the tree recycling centers, as opposed to a city landfil.
“It’s kind of like giving your tree a second life… it makes some free mulch and, recycles your tree and does the environment some good,” said Orth.