With Christmas fast approaching, now is the time to get your Christmas tree in Walsall!
Here are some fantastic insider top tips to ensure that your real Christmas tree stays perfect this year:
1. Ensure that you buy a fresh tree.
Head out to one of Walsall's recommended garden centres or farm shops where there are a massive selection of Christmas trees. Once there check that the tree is fresh by gently running your fingers down the length of one of the lower branches. The needles should stay fast.
Good value, high quality Christmas Trees are available in Walsall at School Farm Shop at Mill Road, Shelfield, Walsall, WS4 1BT
2. Just before you take the Christmas tree in the house, saw off the bottom 1" (3cm) of the trunk.
This creates a fresh cut and opens up the pores in the bark, which otherwise block up with sap within a few hours of being cut. The tree is then able to drink water through these pores via capillary action.
3. Make sure you cut the tree with a straight cut, angled / tapered cuts reduce the surface area of the cells that absorb water
4. Once inside the house, try and position your Christmas tree away from any heat sources such as radiators.
Heat will dry out your tree faster, so the further from its source the better
5. Place your tree in plain water - not soil or sand which would block the pores in the bark.
This is best achieved by using a specially designed Christmas tree stand which can also be purchased from one of Walsall's best garden centres
6. Keep the Christmas tree stand topped up with water. Your Christmas tree may drink 2-3 pints (1-2 litres) of water per day, depending on its size and your central heating settings.
This is very important as once the water level drops below the tree's trunk, sap will re-seal the bark within a few hours, preventing the tree from drinking any further water
7. Never, ever, buy a Christmas tree that has been "blocked" in a block of wood. A blocked tree simply has no way of drinking water and it will dry out rapidly in your central heating, and loose its needles, giving all real Christmas trees an undeserved reputation for needle loss!
8. Remember that decorations such as lights give out heat, which warm up the tree. Therefore always switch lights off at night - this saves you some electricity, too!
9. Never burn part or all of your tree in a wood stove or fire as the sap is extremely flammable and causes a flash flame which spreads quicker than you might think.
10. You can recycle your tree at one of the following local amenity centres:
Merchants way – Aldridge WS9 8SW
Fryers Road – Bloxwich WS2 7LZ
For opening times over Christmas please call 01922 653344
Norris Way - Sutton Coldfield, B75 7BB 0121 303 1112
Click here for details of Christmas Events in Walsall in 2016
Click here for details of Florists who also have Christmas Decorations and Wreaths for sale
