Evergreens have been a part of winter festivals since ancient times and the tradition continues. There is something refreshing and rejuvenating about bringing living foliage into home during the cold and dark winter. “SPRUCE” up your greenery with other plant materials to add color, texture, fragrance, and beauty to your home during the holiday season.

Seasons blend into one another and do not switch instantly according to the calendar. Autumn can linger a little longer if you incorporate nature’s bounty into your holiday decorations.

Decorating with natural materials is very popular, and what better place to look for holiday greenery than your own backyard.There is no better way to celebrate the passing of one season into another than to incorporate clippings of greenery from your landscape. A little creativity can pay off with a fresh new look for wreaths, garlands, swags and even trees.

Your own imagination will kick in, but you can start with these garden treasures:

Acorns	Herbs (lavender, rosemary ,sage)
Branches with colorful or textured bark	Pine cones
Dried flowers	Rose hips
Evergreen boughs	Seedpods
Fruit	Sumac
Grasses	Vegetables
Hydrangeas	Vines
Viburnum

Just a little word of warning about cutting plants, because they will still be in your yard after the holiday season is gone. Take cuttings from all over the plant so it still looks good as the winter rolls into spring.

Christmas trees are not the only thing you can use to decorate for the holidays.The mantle of your fireplace and the surrounding hearth make a beautiful focal point for family and friends.

A mantle radiates warmth with red blooming amaryllis on either side of a centerpiece. Forced bulbs offer brilliant color and the promise of spring flowers, even in the middle of winter.

The centerpiece is lush in texture and color. Rich green boughs of fir, cedar and pine are the backdrop for the flowers of sedum, hydrangea, and viburnum. Pine cones, berries, mistletoe, curly willow and pomegranates enhance the centerpiece and add interest.

The wreath, garland greenery and the trees on the mantle draw your eye directly to the hearth and make it the center for casual entertaining. Upon closer inspection, you find pine cone candles, stockings and the whimsical reindeer adorned with berries.

Alive with texture, color and dimension, this wreath rolls the fall season into the winter holidays. Spruce, cedar, birch twigs, pine cones, rose hips, berries and even antlers and pheasant feathers create a unique wreath that warms your home as well as your heart. The holly berry and spruce garland is secured under the mantle and helps to tie the pieces together into a unified setting. 

Whether you select a real tree for the tradition and fragrance, or an artificial tree for the convenience and expense, it will be a centerpiece for your family traditions.

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Theme trees are becoming popular because they are a way to reveal your personality and creativity. For those of you who are not feeling very creative or stylish, remember that an heirloom tree with homemade or keepsake ornaments is a theme tree too.The trees pictured here show you many possibilities. Have fun creating your own.

If you love fall and want a way to extend the season, trim your tree with that in mind. Make a garland of birch tree twigs with catkins and berries. Decorations include pheasant feathers, pine cones, acorns, balls covered with pheasant feathers and birch bark.

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Christmas greenery and plants are beautiful, but if you have young children or pets, they could be deadly. If you bring plants into your home, or give them as gifts, make sure you know the name of the plant and the potential toxicity. In order to make your holidays merry,we want to give you some help by publishing a partial list of common Christmas plants, and their toxicity, provided by the Minnesota Poison Control System.

Toxic Plants	Mildly Toxic Plants
Amaryllis	Birch Trees
Azalea	Ivy
Bittersweet	Eucalyptus
Christmas Rose	Juniper
Holly	Poinsettia
Hydrangea
Jerusalem Cherry
Crown of Thorns
Euonymus
Mistletoe
Wisteria

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Popular Christmas Tree Varieties

There are many different types of tree available, whether you choose your tree at a Christmas tree lot, or whether you cut your own. Each type of tree has a distinctive appearance and character. Personal preference and family traditions often dictate the type of tree you select, but knowing more about the different type of trees will help you select the perfect tree for you and your family.

Scotch Pine

Grown throughout the Midwest, this variety is the most popular tree sold for Christmas.The fragrant tree has stiff branches and its 1-3" needles are suitable for holding heavy ornaments.The dark green needles stay fresh throughout the season and will not drop needles even when the tree is dry.

White Pine

Has a full appearance with a blue green color and a feathery texture.The soft, long needled tree is less likely to cause allergic reactions because it has little or no fragrance.

Balsam Fir

Dark green color, pungent fragrance, short needles that are long lasting. Native to Canada and the northeastern United States and typically thought of as the traditional tree.

Fraser Fir

The tree has a compact dense appearance and is similar to the balsam with short, dark green needles that are long lasting. It is grown in the mountains of North Carolina,Virginia and Tennessee and may be more expensive than other trees.

Douglas Fir

The tree has a good fragrance and holds blue to dark green needles well. Grown in the Pacific Northwest, this tree is not available at all lots.

Colorado or Blue Spruce

This tree has a dense and symmetrical appearance, with short needles and dark green to bluish coloring. Although it holds its needles longer than other spruces, this variety will drop its needles in a warm room.

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Checklist for Selecting a Tree

• Decide where the tree will be located. Measure the height and width of the space where the tree will be. Check to see if all sides of the tree will be visible, and need to be perfect, or if it is acceptable to have some flaws. The more perfect the tree, the more expensive it will be.
• Take a tape measure with you to the tree lot or tree farm to make sure the tree you bring home will fit into your space.Twine for tying down the tree is often available, but a blanket to cover the top of the car would be a good idea as well.
• Select the type of tree that fits your style and the decorations you will want to add.
• Purchase your tree early in the season when the selection is the best.
• Shop in the daylight, or in an area with good lighting, so you can look for trees with good color and few brown needles.A healthy color can be deceiving since spraying color on a tree to enhance a green appearance is common.
• Perform a freshness test by raising the tree off the ground a few inches and dropping it on its stump. Green needles should not drop off the tree, but it is normal to have a few of the inner brown needles drop.
• In temperatures above freezing, fresh trees will have a distinctive fragrance and flexible needles. Try running your hand down one of the branches; the needles should stay on the branch and be supple.
• If the temperatures are below freezing it is difficult to tell if the tree is fresh. The tree will not have a fragrance and the needles may not be supple. Choosing a tree lot with a good reputation is important, since you want a reliable answer when you ask where and when the tree was cut.
• Look at the trunk of the tree and make sure it is straight. A tree with a bent trunk will not look straight from any angle in a tree stand.
• Look to see if the base of the tree is long enough, and is the right diameter, to fit into your tree stand.
  

 

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Keeping your tree fresh once you bring it home

If you do not put the tree up right away, it is important to keep it hydrated and out of the wind or sun. Here are some recommendations:

1. Keep the tree in a cool, dark place such as a garage or porch until it's time to bring it in and decorate it.
2. Cut the trunk straight across or at an angle of no more than 1/4 of an inch making a fresh cut. An angled cut doesn't help the tree take on more water and decreases stability.
3. Place the tree in a bucket of warm water. The warm water removes the sealing pitch or resin from the tree base.

When it's time to bring the tree inside:

1. Make another fresh cut at the base of the tree and place the tree immediately in a sturdy stand and fill with water. Trees absorb water from along the outside edges of the trunk. Do not cut the sides of the trunk to get the tree to fit in the stand.
2. If the tree base dries out, sap will seal the base of the tree within 4-6 hours. If this happens, there are two things to try, and they both require taking the tree (decorated or not) out of the stand. The first is a fresh cut, and the second is drilling 1/2 inch deep holes into the trunk 1/2 inch apart.
3. Keep trees away from fireplaces, radiators, air ducts, television sets or other heat sources.
4. Fresh trees will last safely at least a few weeks if they are taking in water.
5. When a tree stops drinking water, it can be a fire hazard and needs to be removed from the house.

 

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Did you know?

Always keep the tree watered. A tree can "drink" a gallon of water the first day, and more than a quart each day after that. Check the stand often to make sure the base of the tree has plenty of water.

Using water out of the tap is the best way to keep a tree fresh. Research has shown that additives including sugar, 7-up, aspirin, copper pennies, or bleach or other additives do not keep the tree fresher.

By Barb Cross

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