Surely if you buy your real xmas tree now it will be dead by Dec 25th ?

[Lilyloo]

I visited our local garden centre this afternoon and countless people were coming away with real trees.
How do they survive a whole month in central heated houses ?

LOL! I was wondering the same.

I suppose it will be a bald christmas tree bye christmas .

I asked a friend this - who ws off out to get her real tree today - and she said as long as you spray it with hairspray it will be fine !!

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this is a fact!!

Or perhaps - just dont put any heat on???

They're selling them around our way too, saw a few people driving around with them on their car roofs today.

They'll be a tree skeleton by Christmas day surely? The low drop one we bought last year on the 16th wasn't very happy by the time we took it down (2nd Jan).

My tree usually last a good 3 weeks (and is still looking fine when I throw it out!). I dont use central heating for more than 30 min when I get in from work, and the tree gets a huge drink of water every single day. The quality of the tree makes a big difference too, and how long its been cut for before it appeared in shop. I use one of several small local shops and go for the healthiest one I can find.

opps that came out sounding a bit smug or something!! wasn't meant too

also I have a real fire...I'm not sitting in a freezing pit!

you can get stands that you can water the tree when they are in them

but I would never buy a real one this early

but then when I was a kid we didn't put the decs up till after the 15th as it was my dads birthday

Just wondering if there is a secret way of keeping real trees 'alive' for 4+ weeks!
I did walk through them though and smell them all , it's the smell of christmas for me.

Trinity we do water ours in one of those stands but still can't see it lasting more than 2/3 weeks at the most. Even then the branches are turning in and dropping.

They last quite a long time if you water them!

I agree lilyloo
I dont think they could last from now even watered daily and not much heating but I guess they must

or do you think some crazy people buy a second tree half way through december lol

I should add...I would never put up a tree in November, its just not the right month for all things Christmas

I'm surprised that so many people put them in november

its weird to me

Lol at buying two trees takes me all day to get the 'right' one !

we got one on the 7th december last year watered it well hair sprayed it the lot by the 22nd it was dead and the house was full of needles this was also a non dropping tree and quite expensive.

do you not think that hairspraying kills it?

Ours lasts from two weeks before Christmas until 12th night. We water it everydaywhen we remember and although it does drop some needles it still looks OK. The space where it goes is near a radiator too. But buying one now - it's NOVEMBER.

hair spraying a tree! loons

i worked on a piece by a well known gardener the other day (otherwise i would know nothing about this subject!) he advised getting the tree now,whilst they're cheap..cutting a few inches off the trunk..and standing it outside in water.apparently it should be fine.

we were going to get ours today and do this,as they're only £10 in tesco at the moment...but you lot have put me off!!!

motherbeyond i thought they were very expensive the small ones were £29.99 , the medium £39.99 and the larger ones were £59.99
May have to go to tesco!
Will the trees we buy in Dec be the same trees anyway ?
Although i suppose they are outside and getting watered with the rain ?

I presume the people buying real trees now are going to keep them outside for a week or two before bringing them in and decorating them. If you buy early you get a better choice.

It makes no odds if your tree is outside your own back door or lying in a pile in the garden centre. They were all cut weeks ago. Infact chances are if you buy it now, cut the trunk and put in a bucket of water it will be in better condition than one that has been lying around for ages.

I'll be buying my trees next weekend as I like to keep Christmas in Dec. I wont bring them into the house till about a week before Christmas. I take mine down on the 4th Jan.

ours lasts the month. non-drop and can be quite expensive around 35-40 quid for 6 footer. You do get the odd drop of needles but nothing like the ordinary trees. I think they are worth the money, especially if you like to keep the house warm.

We got ours yesterday but only because we have gone mid-December and all the trees we like have gone. I am not a fan of the no-drop trees, their needles are too fat and they don't smell as nice as the old fashioned Norwegian Spruces we had as children. I guess I am not in a minority with my preference as all the Norwegian Spruces seem to get sold first. Maybe it's the bargainous prices - it was only £8.99 for a 5' 6" tree

Also like Jacaqueen says, it will keep better if I cut the bottom off and leave it in a bucket of water outside than if it was at the garden centre. It'll come inside on 18 December and last fine until 6 January (unless DS gets his hands on it...)

We go to a place that grows them and pick one whil it's still in the ground - then he cuts it for you. It's only about a tenner as well. The guy that grows them always tells us to put lemonade in with the water and make sure we water it absolutely every single day and keep the water level at the very top of the bucket. We don't normally buy until around the 10th-14th but we don't throw it out until the 6th and it's always still fine when we throw it out.

Yes IME. Even the very bestest freshest no-drop ones if you bring them into the house. If you leave them in the garden they should be OK. We don't put ours up until the last weekend before christmas.

Fraser firs last ages, we usually get ours about 2weeks before Xmas and when we throw them out on 12th night they look as good as new.