Annual casting of Christmas trees: choosing the best copy for your family

The smell of Christmas needles - what better way to create a festive mood ?! Recently, however, more and more often you can come across unscrupulous sellers who seek to cash in on our desire to create a unique atmosphere and sell us a stale Christmas tree of low quality. And in order to choose a living Christmas tree for the New Year, one has to be more attentive. We will tell you what to consider so as not to get into trouble.

Important points

Before you go for a green forest beauty, it is not out of place to study the following recommendations:

• Do not buy a Christmas tree on the principle that “the main thing is to be, but where to put it, we will find it.” First decide where it is planned to be installed. This will give an idea of ​​the size of the tree, which will decorate the house without cluttering. It is useful to measure the height and diameter of its future "parking".
• A Christmas tree, which will stand in a corner or against a wall, may well have one less attractive side: it can be turned away from the wall. And such a Christmas tree will cost less. If it is planned to install it in the center of the room, you have to look for a beauty of uniform fluffiness.
• Go shopping in the afternoon. So you will have a guarantee that any shortcoming will not go unnoticed.
• Get a Christmas tree in a forestry or in a specialized Christmas tree market. There is less risk to buy a stale or diseased tree, because it is clear where to make a complaint in case of marriage. In addition, you will be sure that you have not become an accomplice in illegal poaching.
• Go to buy a Christmas tree no earlier than a week before the holiday. Otherwise, even in a cool place, it will lose freshness and will not stand idle for a long time.
• Decide which tree you will buy: spruce, pine or fir. The first is more compact, but also more demanding on temperature and humidity in the room. Pine and fir are not so finicky, while fir looks more magnificent and lasts longer.

Check for freshness

When buying a Christmas tree, the main thing is to be sure that it is cut down recently, that is, fresh. You can verify this in the following ways:

• Weight. A fresh tree is full of moisture, therefore it is always much heavier than the one that was cut down for a long time.
• Branches. The lower branches of the tree should look up and be resilient (easy to return to their original position), flexible, not break. The remaining branches are also not easy to break if the tree is saturated with moisture.
• Trunk. A fresh cut of the trunk is always light, aromatic, droplets of resin appear on it. If it is dark, the tree has been cut down for a long time. The trunk of a fresh, healthy tree cannot be less than 6 cm in diameter.
• Smell. In the pavilion, where live Christmas trees are sold, a natural coniferous smell should be felt. If it was sprayed artificially, it would still be noticeable. And this, as well as the complete lack of aroma, suggests that the product is not the first freshness, and it is not worth placing special hopes on its “longevity”.
• Needles. The color of the needles of a quality Christmas tree is bright, uniform, with a characteristic sheen. If you tear the needle and rub between your fingers, it should leave an oily mark and a pronounced coniferous aroma. Moreover, the needles should not break easily: it only bends. If you take the tree by the crown and properly hit the base of the trunk on the ground, the needles should not crumble. If there are cones on the spruce, they also must hold on tight.
• Crown. Each tier of branches in a good, healthy Christmas tree is on the same level, the legs are evenly distributed around the trunk. The “one-sided” Christmas trees most likely grew in thickening; they lacked light.Accordingly, they are weakened. In addition, the height of a quality Christmas tree cannot be less than the width.
• External defects. In order not to buy a weak, diseased tree and not to bring plant infection into the house, inspect the trunk and branches. They should not have any dark spots, plaque, cleaned or processed areas, traces of mold, growths.
• The grade was eaten. If financial opportunities allow, it is better to invest in buying blue spruce. It is less susceptible to the influence of room heat, so it can stand, without losing its freshness, a little longer than an ordinary Christmas tree.
• Packaging. Do not buy a Christmas tree whose branches are already attached to the trunk with a rope. Do not listen to the seller's assurances that this is done in order to preserve the branches during transportation. Firstly, he was already transporting it to the point of sale. Secondly, you can link it for transportation by the consumer after the purchase. Thirdly, this is most often a disguise: it is impossible to determine the freshness or symmetry of the crown branches of a Christmas tree in this state. If, having untied the spruce, the seller begins to convince you that the tree “stands, spreads out and evenly distributes the branches”, and you see that they not only bent during transportation, but were formed unevenly even during the growth of the Christmas tree - the miracle with “fluffing” did not will happen.

When choosing a place for the Christmas tree, try to put it away from direct sources of fire and heat (fireplace, battery, heating devices). From contact with dry hot air, conifers quickly become worthless. In addition, this increases the risk of accidental fire.

Christmas tree in a container

Recently, Christmas trees planted in tubs or containers have begun to gain popularity among consumers. And there are reasons for that. For example, such a Christmas tree can be bought in advance, it, like artificial, will stand for a long time, because it is in nutrient soil. In addition, you do not need to figure out how to install it and how to care for it while she is dressed up: all these issues are removed by the same soil. It will be possible to use the tree in the ground for several years, if you properly care for it between the holidays. That is, this purchase is for the future. It will save lovers of natural trees from annual expenses.

True, deciding on such a purchase, it is worth evaluating the negative sides. And they too.

• Firstly, after the holidays, such a tree will require attention and care throughout the rest of the year. It is necessary to monitor the moisture of the soil, make top dressing, control the room temperature, protect it from sudden changes, from drafts. Not everyone will want to buy so much trouble.
• Secondly, the price of such an acquisition is much higher. Although, as already mentioned, it would be quite possible to get by with such a purchase once in several years.
• Thirdly, it should be borne in mind that the tree in the tub continues to live. And that means to grow. That is, every year the fluffy beauty will take away more and more space from the room. If the area of ​​the apartment allows, then of course there is no particular problem.

In the extreme case, when it will outgrow the permissible dimensions, it can be planted in open ground - let it please everyone around with its greenery.

To choose the right Christmas tree planted in a container, it is worth applying to it all the previous recommendations. But for a living plant, this is not enough. It is important to make sure that it has a strong and undamaged root system, which means it will grow strong and healthy. To do this, you just need to remove the roots with an earthen lump from the tank and assess their condition.

So, lovers of all natural will have to try pretty hard to choose a high-quality, strong, fresh and healthy tree that will delight households and guests of the New Year's holiday with its harmony, splendor and unique aroma of the New Year. But it’s worth trying, because the constant symbol of the New Year and Christmas is bought.