What's the right date for getting a real tree?

[LemonDifficult]

Christmas trees last about how long? If I water it? I can't water it much though cos I've got the kind of stand which needs a saw off tree not one in a pot.

I'm enthusiastic, I want to get one in early and enjoy it but I don't want it to look dead before New Year's Eve. When should I go and get it?

We get ours the first weekend in December and it normally lasts fine with regular watering well for the first week anyway

Not from B&Q!!!!

I went there on 1st December last year for other things, and ended up buying my tree after much reassurance from the staff that it would last until after New Year.

A week later they had a very dead tree at their customer service desk, and I had a replacement!

Oh, and we usually get a nordman fir which retains it's needles well.

We always have a traditional fresh one, get it from the grower who cut them as they need them during the run up to xmas.

We've had ours from b&q for the last two or three years and not had any problems.

Oh, and we get ours first or second week of dec.

We only put ours up about a week before Xmas but that's personal preference, the tree would last longer. Couple of tips on making it last though:

• the nordman firs do keep their needles better altho' they are more expensive
• the best thing to use is one those plastic buckets with a holder for the tree in the middle and then a water reservoir around it, makes them keep better.
• apparently when you bring it home you should lean it up against the outside of your house, in a sheltered spot for a couple of days before brining it in as it help the tree warm up more slowly

And yes, I really must get out more!

In addition to Lola's useful tips, don't buy a tree that is already wrapped, you need to see how it looks, and give it a shake. If loads of needle fall, don't buy. If the foliage is nice and springy and looks fresh, it's good.

Before you put it in the stand and water, saw off two to three inches off the trunk which will open the water channels and enable it to drink. When first cut down, the trees heal themselves with resin to stop diseases and parasites getting in. No point putting in water if you don't cut the end and it can't drink. We used to stand ours in a plastic tub of gravel as ballast, and top up with water. Never underestimate how much water a tree can drink when in a warm house, and some stands are simply inadequate. Treat your tree as a living thing, you wouldn't put a bouquet in a vase with no water after all. Oh, and don't position it near a source of direct heat like a fire or radiator.

A Norway spruce, put up mid December, lasted until Twelfth night with very little needle drop and still looked good if looked after.

If you're not buying direct from a grower, then it doesn't make much difference when you buy it as there is only one cutting/shipment from Scandinavia. The big garden centre I used to work at actually only got one delivery, so buying later just meant less choice, not a fresher tree.

Cut the bottom few inches off, water every day and don't put it near a radiator.

We usually put ours up mid December and it looks okay until New Year. I take it down after New Years Day as I'm usually itching to get the house back to normal.

If you can get a Scots Pine they look fantastic.

Go and get the tree nice and early so you can pick a good one.

Once it has been cut it makes no difference if it is lying in the garden centre or in your garden. I cut a couple of inches off the bottom and put it in a bucket of water as soon as I get it home. I bring it inside about 7-10 days before Christmas and it stays up till 12th night.

we buy ours the first weekend in december and never water it! We also put it in the same room as our coal fire which is on nightly and it lasts til after new year suprisingly! I've not gotten round the idea of potting it yet - most trees near me come in a sort of log stand and we always get a 8ft one so the idea of doing anything to dislodge it scares me so i leave it as it is!

Mrs VW - Can I ask what kind of greenery you get? I was also wondering how long ivy would last if I did a table decoration a couple of days in advance.

Is that really true about just the one shipment? I'm pretty sure lots of people get their trees from round here (Scotland) - there seem to be lots of growers but maybe they just stay in the North.

Thanks for all the replies so far. I know a lot more about trees. V impressed with everyone getting out their saws to chop the bottoms off the tree!

That sounds lovely MrsvWoolf. I do similar only I put on my wellies and go steal forage.

MrsvWoolf What is zolly?

the chain garden centers/DIY stores are getting them delivered this week or next -most have bought less this year as fewer were sold, so there will be less choice

Personally I would go out and buy one the last few days in november -try and avoid the first or second weekend in december as they get very busy and a christmas tree should be a considered purchase! hehe

put it in your garden and leave it there until you are ready to put it up

cut off the bottom 2 inches or drill 3 holes into the trunk that go up a couple of inches -works just as well

get a stand with a well in it (I love my Krinner stand -tree goes up in 30 seconds flat and no faffing about trying to straighten it up) and water daily -treat it like a vase of flowers

norway spruce -cheap and cheeful but more prone to drop
nordman fir -more expensive but more robust so good if you have little kids or animals in the house
scotts pine/fraser fir -you will need a bar of gold to buy one but they will still have needles NEXT christmas

We always get a Nordman Fir the second weekend in Dec. Go very early on Sat morning otherwise its chocka.

Keep well away from radiator, lasts well into New Year.

We always get ours about a week or ten days before Christmas. One or two weekends beforehand basically. Lots of lovely new stock just then and it really feels like Christmas.

We got one for £1 from B&Q on the 22nd or 23rd, a few years ago.

It was enormous, and so bouffant that it filled the whole room! It was so high that it curved over at the top as it was too high for the ceiling! Cat very impressed with it, and the billion baubles that were on it

I love a real tree, but they are pricey. Luckily I was brought up not to have the tree installed long before Xmas (mebbe my parents were a bit skint!)

Do all the real trees have that lovely christmas smell? We always had a real tree as a child, but now we have an artificial one (as we like to put it up 1st Dec). I hanker after the smell & every year go round the garden centres sniffing trees!! I'm thrilled to read that many real trees keep their needles so long - I was always under the impression that unless you put them up a few days before Christmas, they would be bald! I'll have to start working on DH to persuade him we need a real tree this year!