Johnston County Center
806 North Street
Smithfield, NC 27577
919.989.5380
jcmastergardener@yahoo.com
LIVE CHRISTMAS TREE POINTERS
Buy a fresh tree and keep it fresh
How to tell if
it’s fresh:
1.
Needles
should be soft, supple & aromatic.
Avoid trees with pale, lifeless needles.
2.
Gently
stroke a branch – The needles should not come off in your hand.
3.
Look
on the ground around the standing tree. Avoid trees with excessive
needle drop.
4.
The
trunk should reveal fresh, sticky sap.
Hardened, glazed-over stumps indicate a
tree that has been cut for a long period of time.
CARE
How
to keep it fresh:
1.
In transit, wrap
with burlap
to prevent drying. Place on your car with base facing
front.
2.
Immediately
upon arriving home - Saw ½-1 inch off base to ease water uptake,
place in tree stand and fill with
water.
3.
Keep
tree stand full of plain water.
Tree may use up to 1 G. the first day and
several pints each day after. Trees use about a
quart/day/inch of stem diameter.
4.
Plain
water works best for the trees. Do not
add aspirin, 7-UP or sugar.
5.
Place
tree in cool area away from drafts, fireplaces, furnace vents, candles
or TV.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
1.
Unplug
lights before going to bed. Make sure tree lights are UL approved and
are
in
top condition.
2.
Never
mist christmas trees. Serious electrical
damage can occur. Lights on tree
can take on new meaning of ‘lighting up
your life’. Trees will maintain their fresh
cut appearance 2-4 weeks with proper care.
3.
If
you choose balled and burlapped trees, keep them indoors briefly or
they
lose
their cold hardiness. Also, hot, dry
indoor conditions limit their
life spans.
Water often when indoors
and until you have planted it.
4.
None
of the fire retardant chemicals enhance the keeping qualities of the
trees.
Treated trees especially need to
be kept watered as the fire retardants are high
in salts and tend to damage foliage.
5.
Promptly
clean up any spilled water or dropped needles. This will avoid staining
carpets or floors.
6.
A Christmas tree
with moisture in its branches and needles is no
more flammable
than a damp leaf.
Fraser and White pine will not support combustion when fresh.
Virginia Pine and red Cedar WILL support
combustion when fresh, if enough heat
from an open flame is applied.
All trees when dry will support combustion.
EXTENDED USE
IDEAS
After the
holidays, a tree can have many uses.
*Place
tree in the garden or backyard and use it as a bird feeder. Decorate
with
bird seed cones, suet, orange slices and
bread to attract the birds.
2.
*Trees
can provide wildlife habitat to shelter in during winter storms. Place tree
in obscure part of yard and be sure to
check homeowner’s association regarding guidelines,
if applicable. Birds love hiding in the tree’s dense
branches. Sunk into fish ponds, trees
make excellent refuge and feeding areas.
3.
*A
Christmas tree is biodegradable. The trunk and branches can be used for
fuel
or
chopped for mulch.
4.
*Fir
tree foliage can be stripped from the branches and snipped into small
pieces
for stuffing into aromatic
fir needle pillows and sachets for sofa or bedroom.
5.
Large
quantities of used trees make effective sand and soil erosion barriers.
6.
*Woodworking
hobbyists can make a multitude of items including buttons, gavels,
and candlesticks from the trunk of a
recycled tree.
What is the North
Carolina Cooperative Extension Service? The North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service is an
educational organization with the mission of helping
individuals, families, and
communities put research based knowledge
to work to improve the quality of their lives.
Extension is supported by state, federal, and county
governments. Extension has close
ties to the state's two land grant universities, North Carolina State
University and North Carolina A & T State University. This unique
partnership allows the Cooperative Extension Service to connect the
citizens
of Johnston County and North
Carolina with the scientists and researchers of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the land grant universities.
What does it offer?
Extension provides a broad range of
educational programs which benefit
farmers,rural and urban residents, community leaders, homemakers,
parents, and
youth. These initiatives focus on sustainable agriculture, rural
revitalization, waste management,
water resources, food safety and quality, youth development,
environmental protection, conservation
of natural resources, family development, and
health and human safety. Information
is also available 24 hours a day through Extension's automated
information
service, Extension Teletip, at 1-800-662-7301 for crop
reports or www.ces.ncsu.edu/teletip
for
information ranging from disaster
preparation, food safety and financial management to
landscaping, lawns,
home maintenance and personal
growth.