Muskingum Soil and Water: How to Take Care of your Christmas Tree

ZANESVILLE, OH- The Holiday season is right around the corner, and people are going to farms and getting their very own Christmas trees to bring that Christmas magic at home.

But a lot of people who buy a Christmas tree don’t know how to properly take care of it. That’s why Muskingum Soil and Water experts want to tell people how to properly take care of their tree to have a safe and secure holiday. Forestry Specialist at Muskingum Soil and Water Robert Boehle discussed about what can people do in order to prevent a fire hazard in their home.  

“The biggest thing, especially with real trees is just making sure you keep it watered, trees are still living even after you cut them so they’re going to take up water. So, you want to make sure that you maintain that water level in the stand, the other thing is to keep it away from things like wood stoves, heat vents, radiators things like that. If you have the old-style Christmas lights that produce a lot of heat it may be time to replace those LED’s because obviously, they produce a lot less heat and therefore are a lot less prone to cause any kind of fires.”

Boehle also said that when your Christmas tree is brown it means you either need to water your tree more or the tree has reached it’s limits.  

“Typically, what you’ll start to see is needle drops, if you start to see your needles turning brown that’s always a good indication. A fresh cut fig tree you can get somewhere between three and four weeks out of it as long as it’s properly maintained and watered. It’s just a matter of washing that tree and if it starts to turn brown, obviously that tree is drying out and you’re either not watering it enough or it’s just getting beyond.”

People should also be aware of bugs hiding in your Christmas tree, you need to make sure there aren’t any grasshoppers or other bugs in your tree or even larvae eggs before you take it inside.