Christmas Tree Safety

Cut TreesChristmas is favorite time of the year for many. The following safety and care tips for your tree should help ensure a safe and happy holiday.

  1. When choosing your tree and checking for freshness, if you take a needle and it snaps when bent, the moisture level in your tree is good.
  2. One of the most important things to do is cut 1/2" off base of tree just before putting in water. When a tree is cut, if left for more than several hours without water, the tree will form a seal of sap around the base and at that time makes it impossible for the tree to take in water.
  3. If you do not intend on bringing your tree in as soon as you get it, if possible cut your base and store in a bucket of water in a cool place, out of sun and wind.
  4. Do not let your tree run out of water. One of the biggest problems is that once people put their tree into water, they don't check it until the next day or so. The problem is that most people have very small water reservoirs for their trees and a tree will drink 65% of its water in the first week. A good rule of thumb is that for every 1" of diameter, a tree will use a quart of water per day. For example, a 4" diameter tree will use 1 gallon of water per day for the first several days.
  5. Do not put your tree over or near a direct heat source or over the cold air return on forced hot air as it will draw moisture away from the tree.
  6. Check all electrical cords and lighting. Discard any that are frayed or damaged. Do not use damaged lighting or cords on real or artificial trees.
  7. Do not use real candles on trees.
  8. We do not recommend candles to be used on brush or greenery.

This information was prepared by a fire fighter/Christmas tree grower. Over the last several years it has been noticed that the information given to people on care of real trees in the home gets modified and important information sometime is missed which gives the wrong impression of real trees. A real Christmas tree cannot start a fire. It has to have an ignition source. When a fire is started in a home and a real tree is involved, the actual source of the fire, usually electric in nature, usually goes unmentioned. The only thing you hear is that a real tree caused a fire. The same thing would happen with your kitchen counter if your coffee maker failed, a fire may occur but they don't say the counter top started the fire.

A real tree is much like cut flowers only on a larger scale. If you have a bouquet of flowers you keep them in plenty of water. If you don't, they don't last as long.