Living trees make Christmas magic
Real trees beat plastic kind any day of the holiday season
One of the first thoughts about Christmas for many of us is the aroma of the holiday.
Temporal lobes are among the largest portions of our brain, and they are devoted to smell and taste. So it’s no wonder that a whiff of evergreen — especially with a freshcut or live Christmas tree — prompts memories of holidays past.
Canadians are split about 50/50 on artificial and real Christmas trees. We won’t try to convince you to go real if you are already committed to a fake tree.
But it seems a bit of a contradiction: we’ve been celebrating this occasion for about 2,000 years, and we’ll continue to celebrate it for years to come. Whether you observe the religious connections or not, Christmas for most Canadians has a special place in our calendar and our hearts. So, how is a plastic or synthetic tree appropriate for an evergreen celebration?
For those who like to bring some authenticity to the event, let’s take a look at real Christmas trees.
Living trees
Every year we receive many emails from curious Canadians who think it would be grand if they bought a nice spruce or pine in a pot, one with roots, and put it in the living room.
The idea has merit — but limitations. First, a potted evergreen has roots because it is living. And it needs an extended period of cold to prepare itself to produce new growth in the spring. This period in the life of all winter-hardy trees is called vernalization, or dormancy. And your living tree needs it to stay alive.
When you bring a potted evergreen indoors and expose it to heat (any temperature above freezing) for an extended period, you risk killing it. Room temperatures in a normal living area will trick your tree into thinking that spring has arrived. It will become soft and may start to grow. When you put it out of doors after Christmas, it will literally freeze to death as the poor thing will be thinking “spring” when the depth of winter is still ahead of it.
Bringing a potted, live tree into your home is only successful if you discipline yourself to enjoy the tree indoors for a maximum of five days. Instead, consider placing it on your condo balcony or backyard deck to enjoy through a window or sliding door.
Make sure you keep the roots and soil moist or you will be asking for more trouble.
When you do place it outside after enjoying it indoors, either plant it in soil — which can be tricky in most parts of frozen Canada — or cover the roots (pot or burlap) with two or three bales of straw to insulate it from the fluctuating temperatures during the winter. Keep it watered.
You’ve probably figured out that moisture is a theme here. Cut tree Many of us will bring a cut evergreen tree indoors for Christmas. This is a clever idea, but note that not all of them hold moisture — and their needles — to the same extent.
Fraser Fir is the most needleretentive evergreen. Next it’s balsam fir, the white pine, Scots pine and finally spruce.
While the earliest evergreens used as Christmas trees in Germany were likely spruce, they were not brought indoors for extended periods of time. Real candles were also used to light the tree. In hindsight, this was not a good idea — you can only imagine how many of those Christmas celebrations ended poorly. Stick with the low-voltage lights sold today and, above all, place your tree in a sturdy stand that holds at least four litres of water. Hydration is the key to needle retention and reducing fire hazards. One more tip Spray your fresh-cut tree with WiltPruf to prevent desiccation. (Apologies for the spelling, this is an American product and, like donuts, we can’t always expect our neighbours to the south to spell things our way.) Fact is, it is the best product on the market for this purpose. It is sold in a ready-to-use bottle. If you have any left over, apply it to your garden yews, boxwood, euonymus, holly and rhododendrons on a day when temperatures are above freezing. It holds moisture in the foliage like magic.
And, finally, keep your cut Christmas tree away from heat sources including the fireplace and heating vents.
We use as much of the real, evergreen stuff as we can around our home at Christmas. The scent helps create the magic of the season. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster, tree advocate and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of University of Guelph and Dalhousie University in Halifax. Follow them at markcullen.com, @markcullengardening, on Facebook and bi-weekly on Global TV’s Morning Show.