John Tait

(814) 466-6910

Tait Farm

A Family Tradition Since 1950

HOW TO GET TO JANUARY AND STILL HAVE A NICE TREE Helpful Hints From TAIT FARM TREES 814-466-6910

Selection of Your Tree

1. Make sure that your tree was freshly cut - either by you or by your grower. This will ensure that your tree still has enough life and internal moisture to be able to take up lots of water.

2. All firs and pines commonly offered as Christmas trees, cut fresh, will do well in all but unusual weather years. While(Colorado) Blue Spruce will do fairly well cut fresh, if cut early in Dec. its is likely to drop a few needles by Christmas, but will not shower them down. Avoid Norway Spruce, White Spruce and any kind that has dried so that the needles are no longer supple (that they break rather than bend when squeezed from both ends.

Tree Care at Home

1.Avoid setting up your tree next to sources of heat, especially "forced air" vents and stoves will dry that side of the tree.

2.Your basic goal is to help your tree to take up as much water as possible right after you put it up and keep it taking up water.

3.Research has been done on all sorts of water additives (like sugar and aspirin) and at best they do nothing and often they do harm (like growing mold).

4.If the bottom of the trunk of your tree where the cut was made has dried out, your tree can no longer take up water.

So…

a. Make sure that there is a fresh cut on the end of the trunk before you put it into water. If the cut is more than a day old, take at least ¼ inch off. If possible, take your tree home and put it into water that day, even if you aren't going to finish the job that day. (If it is a tree out of our fresh cut tree lot, the tree will usually have been cut either that day or a day or two at the most. The ones cut that day will not need to be re-cut, but ask one of our workers to make sure that there is a fresh cut or re-cut it yourself right before you put it into water.)

b. Never let the water level in the water pot of your stand get below the bottom of your tree trunk. - your tree will take up quite a bit of water at first, so check it twice a day for the first five days and once a day after that. Again, once the water gets too low and the bottom dries out, it does not matter how much water is in the water pot, the tree can't take it up anymore. Having a stand that holds a lot of water will help.

6.Check the water level every day and twice a day for the first four days because the trees will often take a lot of water at first.

7.You probably guessed that this would lead to some sort of shameless advertisement like everywhere else on the web.

So here it goes: Besides selling the freshest trees possible and one of the best tree stands made, TAIT FARM TREES now offers a very simple tool to keep you off your knees while watering your tree. Its called a Watering Elf and is a cute long red funnel that lets you stand and water.