If you get a real tree every year, can you get it this week and keep it until 12/25? Or is there a time limit?

[Anonymous]

I always get mine the weekend after Thanksgiving from a local school tree sale. Supposedly its only cut a few days before but you never know. It generally drinks a lot the first week then drinks very little. Its normally pretty dry and dropping needles like crazy when we take it down Jan. 1 or 2nd. When I was growing up we kept our live tree up till Jan. 6 (epiphany). But now that so much of the holidays has moved earlier in the season I'm ready to move on after New Years regardless of how the tree is doing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy precut trees at Lowe’s or Whole Foods. Some years we’ve gotten trees that stayed nice for weeks. Some years we’ve gotten trees that looked fine at the tree lot, but never drank a bit of water (even though they do cut off the base of the trunk at the time of purchase), and they dried out immediately. Most years, the tree is getting dry by Christmas but still looks okay. If you’re making sure the tree stays watered, using strings of lights that aren’t old, and making sure the lights are unplugged when no one is around the tree, the fire risk isn’t that high. When the lights aren’t even plugged in, the tree is not going to spontaneously burst into flames.

Thanks PP! Op back. Ah! Ok, my coworker described it as a giant match but this is good to know about the lights. When I have had fake trees I have kept the lights on overnight. I never would have thought about this! Thank you!


Thank you other pps too! We live in an apartment without a balcony and a unit across the building suffered a catastrophic fire one year when their tree caught fire from fireplace. I am not sure of specifics . But I’m learning a lot reading up on real tree maintenance.

A real tree is a huge fire hazard and a TON of work. I would stick with artificial. It’s like getting a dog - most people have no clue what they are signing up for.

Uh, no. Buy tree. Put it up and decorate. Water regularly. Done.

[Anonymous]

We always cut our own tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and put it in water immediately. It drinks for the first week, then starts slowly drying out. This means it still looks good for Christmas. We get rid of it after Jan 6th, Epiphany, the official end of the Christmas season. By then needles are falling left and right.

The secret to it is not buying something pre-cut that's been sitting out in the elements for days or weeks. For best results you need to cut your own that weekend.

Also, we unplug the lights on it when we go to bed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always cut our own tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and put it in water immediately. It drinks for the first week, then starts slowly drying out. This means it still looks good for Christmas. We get rid of it after Jan 6th, Epiphany, the official end of the Christmas season. By then needles are falling left and right.

The secret to it is not buying something pre-cut that's been sitting out in the elements for days or weeks. For best results you need to cut your own that weekend.

Also, we unplug the lights on it when we go to bed.

If you really can't drive somewhere to cut your own, I suggest sawing off part of the trunk that's dried out, and then put it in water. If it drinks, the trunk is still active and the tree will last longer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We buy precut trees at Lowe’s or Whole Foods. Some years we’ve gotten trees that stayed nice for weeks. Some years we’ve gotten trees that looked fine at the tree lot, but never drank a bit of water (even though they do cut off the base of the trunk at the time of purchase), and they dried out immediately. Most years, the tree is getting dry by Christmas but still looks okay. If you’re making sure the tree stays watered, using strings of lights that aren’t old, and making sure the lights are unplugged when no one is around the tree, the fire risk isn’t that high. When the lights aren’t even plugged in, the tree is not going to spontaneously burst into flames.

Endorsing this whole answer. We usually get our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving (so first weekend in December) but the trees usually still look fine by Christmas and only a little crispy by New Years.

The main issue for me is that as the tree dries out, it will drop needles more aggressively, and I start getting tired of needle clean up. Our tree generally comes down on New Years and by then I'm really happy to be done with it. But I don't really worry about the fire hazard -- it's mostly just getting tired of it shedding more and more needles and wanting them out of my house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy precut trees at Lowe’s or Whole Foods. Some years we’ve gotten trees that stayed nice for weeks. Some years we’ve gotten trees that looked fine at the tree lot, but never drank a bit of water (even though they do cut off the base of the trunk at the time of purchase), and they dried out immediately. Most years, the tree is getting dry by Christmas but still looks okay. If you’re making sure the tree stays watered, using strings of lights that aren’t old, and making sure the lights are unplugged when no one is around the tree, the fire risk isn’t that high. When the lights aren’t even plugged in, the tree is not going to spontaneously burst into flames.

Thanks PP! Op back. Ah! Ok, my coworker described it as a giant match but this is good to know about the lights. When I have had fake trees I have kept the lights on overnight. I never would have thought about this! Thank you!


Thank you other pps too! We live in an apartment without a balcony and a unit across the building suffered a catastrophic fire one year when their tree caught fire from fireplace. I am not sure of specifics . But I’m learning a lot reading up on real tree maintenance.

A real tree is a huge fire hazard and a TON of work. I would stick with artificial. It’s like getting a dog - most people have no clue what they are signing up for.

Uh, no. Buy tree. Put it up and decorate. Water regularly. Done.

Still several steps more than artificial. I don’t have to go buy it (except that one time), I don’t have to water it, I don’t have vacuum up needles and I don’t have to dispose of it. I had real trees growing up and I’ll never go back.

[Anonymous]

Make sure not near a heat source. Will dry out quickly if near a vent.

[Anonymous]

Every year we get a tree on Friday after thanksgiving. Every year we take it to the curb when we leave to visit family on 12/27. We water it religiously- like more than once a day. It’s never been an issue.

Also with LED lights, I think the fire hazard is way lower than when people used lights that were warm to the touch.

[Anonymous]

We get our tree on Black Friday every year and it’s always been fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every year we get a tree on Friday after thanksgiving. Every year we take it to the curb when we leave to visit family on 12/27. We water it religiously- like more than once a day. It’s never been an issue.

Also with LED lights, I think the fire hazard is way lower than when people used lights that were warm to the touch.

We slice the end off at the tree lot so it’s a fresh cut. We stand it up and put it in a large bucket outside filled with water for 24 hours to get it really hydrated before we bring it inside. I think that helps.

[Anonymous]

Please! Do not cut down a living tree!!

And don’t buy a cut one. These are so horrible for our environment and only encourage climate change!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please! Do not cut down a living tree!!

And don’t buy a cut one. These are so horrible for our environment and only encourage climate change!

Yes, because it's so much better to buy a plastic tree that will never biodegrade after you're done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We buy precut trees at Lowe’s or Whole Foods. Some years we’ve gotten trees that stayed nice for weeks. Some years we’ve gotten trees that looked fine at the tree lot, but never drank a bit of water (even though they do cut off the base of the trunk at the time of purchase), and they dried out immediately. Most years, the tree is getting dry by Christmas but still looks okay. If you’re making sure the tree stays watered, using strings of lights that aren’t old, and making sure the lights are unplugged when no one is around the tree, the fire risk isn’t that high. When the lights aren’t even plugged in, the tree is not going to spontaneously burst into flames.

Thanks PP! Op back. Ah! Ok, my coworker described it as a giant match but this is good to know about the lights. When I have had fake trees I have kept the lights on overnight. I never would have thought about this! Thank you!


Thank you other pps too! We live in an apartment without a balcony and a unit across the building suffered a catastrophic fire one year when their tree caught fire from fireplace. I am not sure of specifics . But I’m learning a lot reading up on real tree maintenance.

A real tree is a huge fire hazard and a TON of work. I would stick with artificial. It’s like getting a dog - most people have no clue what they are signing up for.

A ton of work????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please! Do not cut down a living tree!!

And don’t buy a cut one. These are so horrible for our environment and only encourage climate change!

Nope, nope nope.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/26/business/energy-environment/fake-christmas-tree-vs-real-tree.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare


https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/protect-water-and-land/land-and-water-stories/real-vs-fake-christmas-tree/#:~:text=Why%20are%20real%20trees%20better,times%20as%20many%20left%20standing!


https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/dec/08/are-real-or-fake-christmas-trees-better-for-the-planet


https://earth.org/real-vs-fake-christmas-tree-environmental-impact/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They are all the same trees. Any tree you acquire later in the season will not necessarily be "more fresh" - it is not the same as say, produce.

You can acquire your live tree at any point, but you do have to water it each and every day.

Well that's not true some local farms set up stand in the parking lots, they drive a few hours back to their farms once a week until Christmas bringing fresh trees with them each time.

https://almostheavenlytrees.com/