The care of Christmas trees from start to finish

“It’s the Christmas holidays!” You know it when your tree has been decorated and all of your friends and family say how pretty it is — and put wrapped gifts underneath.
First, the challenge may be in selecting and getting the three safely home so that it can be decorated. To make that part of the tradition easier, here are a few tips on selecting, securing and setting up a Christmas tree at your home:
Measure your space: Find the correct height for your space by measuring the height of the ceiling in the room where you want to display the tree. It should be at least a foot taller than the tree you pick out. Dry needles are a fire hazard, so pick a location away from heat sources, such as direct sunlight, heaters or fans.
Tree selection: When you select your source of Christmas trees (farm, lot or nursery), look for a tree that has bright green, flexible needles. Shake the tree to make sure that not many needles fall off. After you’ve picked out a tree, wrap it in the plastic for the ride home.
Prepare to transport the tree: If your vehicle has a roof rack, secure the tree to the roof top at several places along the length of the trunk. If your car doesn’t have a rack, open all the car doors – not the windows — and tie the tree snugly to the roof with rope – passing the rope through the car’s interior. If you are unfamiliar with the process of tying a tree to the roof of your car, ask for help from the tree lot personnel. They tie hundreds of trees to hundreds of cars every year using specialized knots and fastening methods.
Transporting the tree: Arrange the tree on the roof so that the stump faces the front of your vehicle to avoid wind damage. Drive slowly and avoid the highway, especially if you’re not used to hauling objects on your roof. The objects can change your vehicle’s center of gravity and its handling.
Prepare the tree to stay fresh: When you arrive home with your tree, use a sharp pruning saw to cut about an inch off the bottom of the trunk. Note that some tree lots will make this cut for you at the time of purchase. If this is the case and you get the tree home and in water within the hour, you shouldn’t have to repeat the process. This is important because when the tree trunk was originally cut, resin clotted the exposed ends of the tracheids, the cells through which the tree takes up water. Cutting the trunk again exposes fresh tracheids and allows the tree to take up water once more, which will prolong the tree’s freshness. Do not let the base of the cut tree dry out.
Removing the tree from holiday service: Greenwaste’s listing of residential services provides the following instructions for their customers for after the holiday care of Christmas trees: Your undecorated holiday tree can be picked up curbside between January 2nd and January 31st. Please remove the stand, cut the tree to approximately 4 foot lengths and place the sections next to your yard trimmings container on your regular service day.