Don’t bother with a “fresh cut” wherever you buy. You need to make that cut right before you put it non the stand and add water.
Before you bring the tree in, be sure and stand it up and give it a good shake. This will get out the loose needles. Make the cut and score the end of the trunk about 3-6”up from the bottom of the trunk, making 4-6 cuts around the trunk. Put it in the stand and start adding BOILING water right away. Ask you 8th grader why you are doing this…hint=capillary action. Wait a few minutes and watch the water level in the sand go down. The tree will drink a large quantity in the first few hours. Keep adding boring water (or very hot water) until the level stops going down. Over the time the tree is up, keep an eye on water levels. Always add hot, hot water, as you refill the stand. Now, you have fully hydrated your tree and are ready for the next step. Cover your floor/rug surface under and around the tree with newspaper or and old sheet or shower curtain or tarp. Get some “Wilt-Pruf or similar anti-transpirant/antidessicant (Stonegate has sold it in the past. IF not them, try Home Depot or Russell’s). Get a good spray bottle, fill it with the antidessicant and begin to spray the tree, starting at the top. Spray top to bottom, soaking the tree. Keep spraying until it is really dripping -make sure to get deep into the tree and soak everything, It makes a mess and, it smells nasty! If you’ve read this far and say,”Dang, already got the red up”. You can still, at a minimum add some boiling water to the stand. We started doing this years ago and trees put up in the 2 weeks before Christmas lasted well past the New Years and Epiphany and beyond. Our trees never dropped needles. Think of all the work to trim the tree, now, you can sit back and enjoy. Namaste and happy holidays. Sara ------ Sara Mattes
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