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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To buy another Christmas Tree because ours has already died

46 replies

Thereluctantstepmother · 13/12/2020 08:00

I bought a spruce Christmas tree two weeks ago from B&M and it stopped taking much water after a couple of days even though I sawed the bottom of the trunk off.
You only have to look at it and the needles drop. It looks all thin and droopy already and we’re nowhere near Christmas!
The tree is the best anti depressant I’ve had in a long time after this strange year but it would feel a bit extravagant to throw it out and start again!
On the other hand I like to keep it up til New Years eve so it’s going to be bare by then!
Also, does anyone have any tips on spotting newer ones when you go to the shop?
Thanks.

OP posts:

SonjaMorgan · 13/12/2020 09:32

Was it near a radiator? We have only just bought a Christmas tree this weekend. I don't know how anyone can get them to last for over a month. They are like cut flowers.

lockeddownandcrazy · 13/12/2020 09:35

"Why do people buy cut Christmas trees? Obviously they’re going to die - well, aren’t they dead already once they’ve been cut?"

For exactly the same reason as they buy cut flowers rather than pot plants - because they prefer them.

I'd buy another definitely.

Hahaha88 · 13/12/2020 09:38

Real, cut trees are such a waste. Surely you don't expect it to last longer than 2 weeks? Either get it closer to Xmas next year or get a decent artificial tree. But I would get a new tree now in your position

thecapitalsunited · 13/12/2020 09:46

A freshly cut tree should last a good four or five weeks as long as it’s kept watered and away from heat.

As for trees in pots - maybe people prefer a bigger tree. You have to have an enormous pot for a 7’ tree which is why you can only get them up to about 5’. Even trees in pots don’t always survive because the temp change going from inside to outside is too much, they’ve been over heated or not given the right amount of water. If you plant it then it will eventually get too big. The person on the back of my house has a 15’ Christmas tree in his garden now!

megletthesecond · 13/12/2020 09:51

Sainsburys still have dinky (2/3ft) living trees in pots for £10. Or get an artificial one and keep it for years.

CoronaIsWatching · 13/12/2020 09:56

You're really asking for this if you put a tree up at the end of November! It must be depressing for all these people left with brown trees and wreaths on xmas eve

wildraisins · 13/12/2020 10:02

Are you overwatering it? They don't need a lot in winter.

RainMoon · 13/12/2020 10:05

Buy another!
Don’t buy a spruce but a Nordman Fir.
You have to cut the bottom within 30mins of watering it first so the cut is fresh and stays open as long as possible.
You need all the happiness you can get this year

flyingant · 13/12/2020 10:22

How about a potted Christmas tree rental? Here's one in London but I expect there are more if you search... www.londonchristmastreerental.com/pages/faqs

whichwallywhere · 13/12/2020 10:26

Get a nordman and keep it in a pot with soil. No chopped down tree is going to do well indoors in a centrally heated house with no soil for a month.

We have ours in a pot and it goes out in the garden and then comes in again the next year until it gets too tall for the house. As the children got taller so did the tree

UntamedWisteria · 13/12/2020 10:31

I bought a small potted 'extra' tree last year (3 foot), which grew a few inches during the year. It lives in our porch over Christmas, which is open and unheated, so shook be fine

This year I have splashed out and bought a 5 foot pot-grown tree for our chilly drawing room, which we have just repotted into a much larger pot and which I am hoping will put on more growth. The kids did complain it was smaller than normal, but I'm in this for the long haul.

gamerchick · 13/12/2020 10:38

I feel sorry for Christmas trees me, cut down, dressed up for a few weeks and then thrown out.

Mind I feel sorry for flowers as well. Here's some death to say I love you.

CoronaIsWatching · 13/12/2020 12:12

@gamerchick

I feel sorry for Christmas trees me, cut down, dressed up for a few weeks and then thrown out.

Mind I feel sorry for flowers as well. Here's some death to say I love you.

Nothing that doesn't happen in the wild

jrb123 · 13/12/2020 12:29

I read some research that showed the most effective way of preventing needle drop is to spray the tree with hairspray, so every year I half empty a tin of cheap hairspray over the tree. Ours is in the worst possible place sitting on underfloor heating (nowhere else it could go) and is still looking good after a couple of weeks (Aldi £14.99, six foot). The trouble with buying a tree this late into the season is that the choice is very limited - most outlets apart from the hideously expensive garden centres have stopped selling by now. But buy another if you can find one, get a Nordman if you can and spray it with hairspray. Good luck!

gamerchick · 13/12/2020 13:01

Nothing that doesn't happen in the wild

Where in the wild does what I described happen?

tilder · 13/12/2020 13:31

Real trees can't really cope with the trend for early Christmas decorations.

If you want a real tree to last for Christmas day, at most get it 2 maybe 3 weeks if lucky, before Christmas. Trim the base and water. As fresh a tree as possible (If it's dropping when you buy it, it's not fresh).

If you want a tree for longer, don't have real trees.

As for 'it's really bad for the environment'. Pretty much all of Christmas is bad for the environment. All that excess consumption and lots of high carbon footprint food. Either get a local real tree, look after it, dispose of carefully. Or have an artificial that lasts at least 10 years.

tilder · 13/12/2020 13:34

This thread has reminded me a bit of the fruitarian (sp?) from Notting Hill. It's a tree. Grown to be cut and brought inside. They are often grown on poor quality hilly land.

CaveMum · 13/12/2020 13:38

Top tip I was given by our local garden centre - mix a bit of lemonade in the water when you top up the water - the sugars help to feed the tree in a similar way to those glucose sachets you get with cut flowers.

emeraldcity2000 · 13/12/2020 18:50

Always put our tree up on 1st dec and it always lasts until decorations need to come down...real trees are fine as long as they are watered and away from a radiator. Always have a Fraser fir as I want tall and slim but still a nice shape for the size of the room.
Yes, get another tree!

GlowingOrb · 13/12/2020 19:11

The last year we got a real tree, it never drank a drop of water. We ended up removing it from the house immediately after opening presents on Christmas morning because we were so worried it was a major fire hazard. In retrospect, we should have just taken it down and gotten a new tree.

We switched to artificial after that year because our fresh tree options are limited and we didn’t want to risk it happening ever again.

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2020 19:21

This is the madness of trees being sold so early. When I rule the world Christmas trees will only be sold from December 15th onwards. It is decreed!

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