Christmas tree mistake!

[pitcherscat]

We got our first real tree last year. Had a real job trying to get it in the rubbish tree stand I bought, ended up chopping a huge chunk off the bottom and had to buy a new, much better tree stand. After several hours of strife though we had it looking lovely and it lasted really well, I loved it.

Got our second real tree last Sunday. Brought it home and were pleased to find it fit straight in the tree stand no bother (Krinner in case anyone is wondering). Decorated it straight away and had it looking lovely in a fraction of the time... However it's been dropping needles like a b*tch these last few days and baubles keep dropping off. Did a bit of googling and it turns out you're supposed to hack a chunk off the bottom so it can drink properly! So my question is, is it too late!? Or can we just take it down, hack a chunk off the bottom and then stand it back up and re-decorate it?

You need to trim the base. But making sure the room it's in isn't too warm and dry will help. If you've succumbed to the fashion for dehumidifiers, then turn it off. If you've a dry heat source such as a woodburner in the room then start using a humidifer. A real tree always lasts longer in a cool hallway or dining room rather than a comfortably warm living room.

If it's dropping needles, it might be a norway spruce. Is it dark green, with very thin needles? If so, they're not grown to be indoors for weeks - they are the old-fashioned Christmas trees people put up a few days before Christmas and only kept until Epiphany. Even then, they do drop! They smell wonderful, but they're just not suited to being up for weeks. They're like a bunch of flowers.

You can get tree stands that have a little well in the base for water. Ours was from Lidl years ago - or you could just put it in a bucket half-filled with gravel/sand.

This is my first year of having a real tree and I hate it. It’s really dark green and I’m finding it very depressing.

Yep the firs dont shed as much, barely at all really. A spruce will drop easily. But it still sounds as though you got a tree that was cut down ages ago

A Norway Spruce is great! Cheap as chips and smells ( but not as much as some others) . Yes the needles drop but they make the vacuum smell lovely when you hoover them up.
But mainly because it’s £20 a tree and not £60 which was the equivalent size in a fir.

Mine sits a large glazed green plant pot I can’t use for plants as it has no holes. It’s totally filled with water and the tree is supported inside by three old bricks in a triangle. Lasts until school starts in January which is when mine comes down.

Agree about the Nordmans. We’ve had different trees in the past that drop loads of needles whether you cut the bottom or not. Nordman firs tend to drop very few needles. One year dh was away and I didn’t know about cutting the bottom off and just popped it straight in the stand it was still fine.

We have a Norway Spruce this year, freshly cut in front of us at the weekend at our local farm. It’s in a stand of water and so far barely a needle has dropped (though I’d expect that to change). By contrast, a friend’s Homebase-bought Nordman shed copiously in the car on the way home.

My point us that a fresh cut and water makes a massive difference.

Honestly I’d cut your losses and get a new tree, OP. IKEAs are cheap AND you get a voucher to use in the New Year.

Spruce v Fir .Personally I love a fir ,love the look and the smell .More delicate needles .But they are hard to find and around here are no cheaper .
I put something festive under it ,even newspaper topped by wrapping paper and just get on with needle drop.
I'm sure hacking a bit off helps and I love the suggestion of drilling holes .
OP good on you for your efforts to rescue and not giving up .And thanks for starting the thread .

I would be getting a new tree under these circumstances.

Trees never last very long once cut. I want my tree to last till Epiphany (6th January) so it never goes up before the 18th December and I buy from a farm where they chop it and I bring it home and get its trunk into water within 30 minutes of being cut.

Trees that you buy ready-cut may have been felled a week or more ago and will already be basically dead. I wouldn't expect them to still look good as much as 9 days later, let alone 2 weeks.

I've heard drilling and giving it sprite, or aspirin in water can help perk them up but tbh it sounds unsalvageable to me. I'd just get a new one.