How to keep your cut Christmas tree fresh.

Okay i’m going to try to get this in Before it gets too dark out here the sun Is going down fast here on this winter Day uh Keeping your christmas tree Moist and not drying out in your house There’s always a lot of talk about doing That and what’s important to do it and i Want to talk just a second what i think Is the single most important thing and i Think most christmas tree growers would Agree is after you take your tree home You need to make it make another cut on The stump and A lot of people reference over and over Again the fact that um The pitch will come out the bottom and Seal up and put a coat there so that Water can’t go up there but i think uh Just as much as that um i think um our The shaker Which is a good service also does some Damage to the tree so if you do The anatomy of a christmas tree Um most of The moisture is drawn up on a layer just Inside the bark okay um so uh as it gets Into the heartwood it no longer is Drawing up wood the capillary action is Usually uh on the outer rings of the Wood just inside the bark and when you Put the tree on a shaker we’re going to Show you how that works here again most Of you know

It shakes it around and it really beats Up The trunk of the tree Just the very bottom of it but it really Does beat it up and so With the capillaries in the trunk of the Tree those think of them the poor Analogy but think of them as little Hoses that are going up their Capillaries that draw up the water and If you are smashing that in the shaker Then think of having kinked hoses or Your host sitting on the driveway and You park your car on it and the water is Not going to go through there because It is not Able to draw it up anymore so when you Use a shaker and you damage that ring on The very bottom of the tree if you cut That off again you open that back up and So it’s not hard you know if you’re Telling people to cut the base of the Tree when they get home they’re probably Cutting off that part that’s sitting in The bottom of the shaker and getting Damaged anyway but one thing uh That you might not think about those of You that do the pin christmas tree Stands and it holds up the tree and that Is a wonderful service they hold it up And the people are proud that have those Are probably putting up their trees Pretty fast anyway because you’ve Already drilled it

But uh one of the things you might want To consider is when you shake the tree Cut it again cut a half inch off the Bottom of the tree before you put the Pin in because If you if you drill for the pin in that Tree for the stand They go home they cannot Now cut the cut the bottom of the tree Off Because the The pin it has a certain depth where it Catches and so you’ve kind of created an Issue there so I would recommend those of you that Drill the hole for the pen christmas Tree stands because if you put it on the Shaker Cut it again right there Drill the hole in the trunk and then Tell them go directly home put this uh In your stand right now stand it up and It’ll be good So if you’re not familiar with the Shaker you’re putting the trunk of the Tree in this bowl that comes down narrow Or narrow as you go and the bottom of The tree sits around these rings And so when you turn the shaker on This rotates And the trunk of the tree is just Getting beaten back and forth and it Shakes the whole tree so the needles Fall out so the bottom trunk of the tree

Really gets damaged that’s why we want To cut The bot that’s another reason to cut the Trunk of the tree off Okay so this is january this is my Christmas tree that i just took down so We cut after we got home but most of the Moisture Is drawn this is the best area for it to Be drawn up around just inside the bark On this outer ring not so much in here So we don’t want this to be damaged When we’re shaking too much or we want To cut the part off that is damaged on The shaker Okay it’s getting a little dark outside And i don’t have artificial light i hope The camera can adjust for this But uh You can see after running this through The shaker that this edge is all rounded Up and the cells inside the bark and the First row inside the bark are pretty Mashed up and so the capillary action of Drawing the moisture up is going to be Limited okay yeah there can be some Further in i have had trees that were Super large trunks and we cut it smaller To so that it fit in a friend stand and They reported that You know the tree dried out much faster Than normal but that’s because we took Off all this layer out here that is the Most important for drawing up moisture

So uh Once you put it in the shaker Cut Cut off Another half inch and you’ll probably Get rid of that damaged area and open up The hose where basically you got the Kink out of the hose [Laughter] After that fresh cut you can see The bark doesn’t look damaged around the Edges at all neither does the in the Outs neither the outside rings Okay there you saw what i think you Could do the best thing that you can do To keep your christmas tree fresh once It’s inside your house i know that a lot Of people think that the Pitch or the sap sealing up on the trunk Is one of the main issues and i’m not Disagreeing that that’s a significant Factor and a lot of people like to put Hot water some people even boiling water In the stand to break that up but i i Really believe that fresh cut even after You’re putting it on the shaker is the Single most important thing you can do I’m always looking for other tips to Keep our christmas trees fresh if you Have other ideas please put them in the Comment section and uh as always thanks For joining me on the flanigan homestead Where christmas trees are my business Teaching including horticulture is my

Job and outdoor projects are my passion Be blessed everyone