We’ve become accustomed to Christmas music and lights making their first appearances in early November. But the so-called Christmas creep has so far eluded one cherished tradition: Christmas trees. A real one won’t last more than three or four weeks – no matter retailers’ desire to start the holiday season right after Halloween.
But that also means there is no Black Friday or Cyber Monday for Christmas trees. So how does one get a deal on a nice, farm-raised evergreen?
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Your best bet is to buy one during the first two weeks of December, according to mobile payments company Square. Last year, prices dropped about 20 per cent on Saturdays and Sundays during the first half of the month, according to data Square pulled from across Canada. Weekend shoppers often paid less than $45, while prices climbed as high as $60 mid-week.
You’re going to have to fight the crowds for that price, though. A whopping 63 per cent of tree sales last year happened on those first two weekends. The most popular day of all was Dec. 3, the first Saturday of the month, which will fall on Dec. 2 this year.
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If you want to score the best deal of all without facing much competition, though, wait until Christmas Eve. By then the average price had dropped to $39 last year, according to Square. But while last-minute shopping will still allow you to have your tree in time for Dec. 25, it will only be a week before your dressed-up conifer starts looking out of place in your living room.
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How to take care of your tree
Here’s another way to make the most of your money: Take good care of your Christmas tree. A healthy, well-hydrated tree will last longer and shed far fewer needles than a thirsty one.
And while this is the time of the year when advice proliferates on the internet about how to properly handle your tree, a lot of it contains “erroneous information,” according to Rick Bates, professor of horticulture at Pennsylvania State University.
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Here are some research-based guidelines:
Dos
- The most important thing you can do is give your tree the water it needs. A traditional, reservoir-style tree stand is the best place to display it. Most trees will need a stand that holds at least four litres of water, but the general rule of thumb is that you should provide a litre of water per 2.5 centimetres of stem diameter.
- If it has been more than 12 hours since your tree was cut, cut an additional centimetre off it before putting it in the stand.
- Check daily to make sure the base of the tree is immersed in water and add as needed. Your stand doesn’t need to be empty for the water level to have dropped below the tree base. Your tree will consume a lot of water, especially in the first week.
- Use low-heat Christmas lights and keep your tree away from heaters, heat vents and direct sunlight. Trees, like people, get thirstier when they get hotter.
- Unlike people, Christmas trees easily catch fire. So always turn off your lights when you leave the house or go to bed.
Don’ts
- Don’t mess with the water. Fresh water is all a Christmas tree needs, writes Bates. There’s no need to add sugar, honey, molasses or soft drinks. The same goes for floral preservatives. There is also no need to buy fancy devices that supply water directly into holes drilled into the sides of the tree.
- Don’t mess with the tree base, either. If you need to trim it, cut horizontally. A sideways or V-shaped cut will hamper your tree’s ability to drink. Drilling a hole in the base doesn’t improve water intake, while trimming the trunk around the edges to fit it in the stand actually harms your tree’s capacity to absorb water.
- Don’t spray your tree with antitranspirants. “These products are marketed as a way to block evaporation from the foliage surface, but in reality, they have little effect on a cut tree displayed indoors,” writes Bates.
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