To ask when the best time to put up your real tree is and how to keep it alive?

[malificent7]

Im on a budget so gave seen a beautiful one in Lidl for £20. Do i hold my nerve and wait till nearer xmas? Will it die too soon if i get it now? How can i keep it alive longer?

I'll probably get mine next weekend and will put it in a bucket of water and stones so it doesn't dry out to much. You'll get some shedding but it should look good until the new year

Does anyone have a link to a base that has water in? I have a bucket but the tree will just fall over? I have a spike thing but nowhere to put water!

Best to wait a while yet. I put mine up around the 20th December - that way it’s still fresh come Christmas Day and isn’t dropping too many needles by 12th night.

Kenandbarbie, they have them amazon. Search real Christmas tree stand

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223222852362

Kenandbarbie - this isn’t the exact one I have but it’s pretty similar. Works well.

Mine are being delivered on the 17th. I'm a bit nervous about doing it that early to be honest as we have underfloor heating which seems to make them a bit crispy.
Tree man was adamant they would be fine though

Donkey are they made of plastic?
We have really big trees and I'm not sure they would hold them up they would be brilliant though we had to buy metal stands last year.

We have our tree outside in a pot and bring it in every year. Why not get a real tree in pot?

No expert.
I would guess that trees are all cut at the same time.
Kept in cold and delivered to the store as demand requires.
I'd buy a tree nearer Christmas, if I could be sure it had been kept in a cold place.
As outdoors is quite warm at the moment but better than in central heating indoors.

Ok that looks great!

We always get a tree on 1st Dec. It sits in a stand with water at the base.
It’s still looking good after New Year. I think unwatered trees can be a bit of a fire hazard.

@shecamefromgreece my plastic one says it’s for trees up to 7ft. Last year I had one nearly that tall and it was ok. I’m not sure about bigger than that though.

Thanks donkey that's what we usually get so I will give it a try.
Maybe the plastic stand we had was a bit rubbish!

We get a real tree the first weekend In December. Always still fine by xmas and not really any needle droppage. We get it from local forestry commission and it’s in a stand with water.

A few years ago my husband killed ours within a week. Apparently you do not need to cut the bottom off and he forgot to put water in the base. It was one of those one that don't drop the needles. Amazingly it was dead and crispy but kept all the needles. Well until we picked it up to take out then ALL of the needles fell off and we had a stick to remove... So ummm sorry I don't have any tips!! Apart from get one of those one that don't drop the needles then if you do kill it hopefully it'll last like ours!!

Yes to the tree stand that holds water. We usually get ours the first weekend in December but waiting til the 8th this year as we did have a lot of droopy branches with the decs falling off last year! Ours is in our sitting room though where the log burner also is, so quite a warm room.

I looked into this in the week and can tell you that the experts are recommending 10 December. Very specific.

I have had a real tree since I married. It goes up for Xmas so this year will be around 21st/22nd. I buy it beforehand and leave it outside. I have a similar stand to the one shown.

You can always stand the stand in a trug or large pot of sand or peat for any leaf drop. You can add water to both stand and trug. I often spray paint pots.

A word of caution for anyone who let's their tree dry out you need to be aware that lights can set the tree alight.

Ok brilliant tips everyone...thank you!

As a PP has said keep it in a pot outside and bring it in nearer or my partnr has suggested using hairspray or something similar as it acts as a laquer (sp?).
I asked him if it works and he said yes.

Will be getting my decs up this weekend as I have had the itch now all week but can't justify putting it up before the 1st Dec .

The most important thing is to make sure the tree has a fresh cut on the trunk. That and a steady supply of water will ensure the tree is good for weeks.

Add some Coca Cola to the water too , helps keep the tree fresher for longer so we always did this and it would last all through December till early jan .
We have an artificial one now just because decent real ones were costing us about £70 a year when we made our money back in 2 years from this one and it’s a whopper!

Turn off your radiator if it is standing next to it.

Don't use hairspray as it's highly flammable and a fire risk

I'm thinking ours lasts really well because our house is old and freezing