Our normal tradition is to go on Thanksgiving weekend and chop down a tree. The last two years, we went to the only place in the area you can chop down your Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend. Their selection was pitiful (double trunk trees all over) last year. We decided to try again this year and hope for the best, but no decent trees to be had. So for the first year ever, we went to a Christmas tree lot and picked out a tree. At first the kids were disappointed, but the tree was beautiful and smelled so nice!
Fast forward 2 weeks after getting the tree. It's not drinking any water and is increasingly brittle. Eric started asking me what we should do. Should we replace the tree? Ugh. It's at the point now that if you touch the tree it falls apart. So today the kids and I have the distinct pleasure of taking all the ornaments off the tree, getting the tree out of the house, cleaning up the thousands of needles that are all over the floor. Tomorrow we will go get another Christmas tree and start over again. Hopefully this one lasts until after the 1st of January.
This makes two firsts for us with Christmas trees! First time we got one from a lot and first time we have to replace a dead tree. Now we just have to figure out what our new tradition is going to be. Obviously getting a tree from a lot Thanksgiving weekend will not work. The one tree farm will not work. We can get a permit from the forest service guys and go into the woods and chop down a tree, but not until the weekend after Thanksgiving. Or we could get a fake tree.
I know, I know. We live in Colorado. Aren't there Christmas trees EVERYWHERE? Apparently it is not so simple.
5 comments:
When you get the freshly cut tree home, you should take your saw and shave a bit off the bottom again. This opens the wound that has begun to seal over and allows the tree to drink more. And you must put the trunk into water immediately. The first few days the tree should drink heavily; that will level off after awhile.
Or you could do as we did and take the easy way with an artificial pre-lit.
But we DO that! And my husband drills a hole in the bottom to help it drink. And it still DIED. Sigh. The artificial thing isn't very appealing at this point. My kids are all totally against it. :-)
LOL, I'm not much help because we also have a lovely ake tree we trot out from the basement each year! But we did cut down our own tree in the national forest several years when we were stationed in Co. That wasn't a picnic either. For one, all the trees look really small there in the forest--but then you get one home, and it turns out it is actually enormous, and you should have gone with one that looked like a mere shrub! Secondly, at least in the areas we were allowed to cut in, the trees were mainly rather scraggly ponderosa pines. They really weren't full, shaped Christmas trees--more like Charlie Brown ones. So I'm not so sure that's a great option either, other than having the fun of tromping around in the woods! : )
Growing up I was against artificial trees, however now we have an pre-lit artificial and I will never go back. Take the whole, "what a waste it is to kill a tree" approach and take the kids on a hike and find natural stuff to make ornaments with. That might help ease the transition and if your lucky maybe there will be something living in the things they gather. :)
We were thinking of going into the mountains and cutting our tree this year so I looked on their website which said to put sugar in the water. Maybe that would be something for you to try next year. Although it works pretty well, don't use brown sugar like my mom did (weirdly all she had in the house). Let's just say there was a spill and the carpet cleaner has been used many, many, many times...
We really like a lot off of Dry Creek & University (Centennial Area), but their trees are a little pricer... Good luck! ~Jessica
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