TWO or three years ago, I had a German visitor who just could not get over the plastic tree I had set up in my home. He kept saying: "It looks so strange."
Back in Germany, his tree was a fresh-cut live pine tree and they used real burning candles (how silly, I thought) to decorate it.
Well, that was Christmas trees for this visitor to Singapore. Christmas is around the corner and some of you will be deciding whether to get the real thing or a fake one. Nothing beats the smell of a real pine tree.
My previous neighbour used to get a real tree every Christmas, not me. To spend $500 on a tree that was going to last just a month, was not good use of money, I have always felt. Just work out how many kilogrammes of honey-baked ham or roast turkeys you could get with that money.
I was fortunate back in those years. I could smell my neighbour's tree from my home. So I got a fake tree but with the smell of real pine in my home.
But if you do decide to get a real tree (and there are some places listed in The Sunday Times today), here are some tips on how you can make your tree last till the end of the Christmas season.
- Make another fresh 2cm cut and place the tree in a sturdy stand that holds about 4 litres of water.
- Keep the water level above the base of the tree or a seal will form and prevent any more water from being absorbed by the tree. If that happens, you'll need to make another cut in the trunk. You don't want to do that once it is decorated. Remember, a tree that has been cut for a few weeks is going to suck in a few litres of water in the first few hours after cutting the slice and mounting the tree. On the first day of setting up the tree, check the water level every hour or two. Once the tree quenches that initial thirst, its take up rate will slow down.
- Plain water is all that is needed to keep a tree fresh, don't bother with additives, aspirin, panadol, whatever.
- Unplug tree lights at night. You don't want your home lighted up unnecessarily.
- Use miniature lights, LED lights are good, as they produce less heat and reduce the drying effect on the tree.
- Spray the leaves with an anti-transpirant product, if you can get your hands on some. This material, when sprayed, leaves a thin wax-like coating over the surface of the leaves which slows down water loss through the pine needles.