Tips for keeping your tree happy

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Saturday, November 21, 1998

BY TIM MOREHOUSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Here are tips to extend the life of your Christmas tree.

A LIVE TREE
• Make certain the root ball is solid with no signs of crumbling.

• As soon as you buy a tree, locate and dig a hole where you want to plant it. The ground might be frozen after New Year's Day. Store the soil in the garage in a wheel barrow or other container.

• Introduce the tree gradually to warm temperatures inside a house by storing it in a garage or shed.

• If there is plastic over the burlap, remove it and water the tree. Allow excess water to run off the root ball, then rewrap it with plastic to protect your floors before moving the tree inside.

• Leave the tree inside two to three weeks maximum to assure it remains dormant.

• When it's time for the tree to go outside, reintroduce it to the cold with a layover in the garage.

• Plant the tree at the level it was growing at the tree farm. Dig a hole that is wider and deeper than the circumference of the root ball.

• Mix Canadian sphagnum peat moss with the soil in the bottom of the hole. Position the tree in the hole (a job for two). Once the tree is in place, water thoroughly.

• Cut the twine that holds the burlap around the root ball but leave the burlap intact, it will rot with time. Pack peat moss and soil tightly around the root ball. Water thoroughly once again.

  A CUT TREE

• Until ready to decorate the tree, store it in a cool place away from sun, wind and heat.

• Trim the trunk end on the diagonal 1 inch above the original cut. This opens the pores and helps the tree absorb water.

• Plunge the stump into a bucket of fresh warm water. Keep the tree in water until you are ready to move it inside.

• Before decorating the tree, mist the needles and branches with water.

• Buy a 1-gallon water stand. Fill it with a mixture of 7-Up and water. Check water level the first 12 hours, then every 24 hours after that.

• In the house, place the tree away from fireplaces, heaters, televisions and sunny windows. Unplug tree lights when you leave home or go to bed.

Tristate tree farms
Couple cultivates trees and Christmas tradition

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Local Headlines For Saturday, November 21, 1998

Activists seek delay in deal with tobacco
Anderson's hillside plan rejected
Argosy still the favorite for bettors
Blank injury wasn't the first
Body found along creek
Boone drafts new manager
Bunning's margin mere 6,766
Caesars Ind. riverboat opens
Council simplifies income tax
Couple cultivates trees and Christmas tradition
Dispose of leaves, yard waste
Doubters grow among GOP ranks
DUI drivers lose double-jeopardy case
Ewbank services today
Ex-chief faces third rape trial
Family council celebrates 5 years helping
Former Chiquita lawyer asks data
Health care conflicts discussed
Hill & Co. will call it quits
How to help Mitch victims
Inmate to die for fatally stabbing cell mate
Lemon Twp. caught in squeeze
Mom says fingerprint not enough
Moms of multiples can rely on club
Movie crew to shoot here
No more Ohio set-asides
Religious group files suit
Renowned pediatrician counsels social workers
Riverfront plan still lacking
Silverton budget rescuer resigns
Starr's ethics adviser resigns
States OK landmark tobacco pact
Sycamore senior aces SAT
These gifts wrapped in lots of love
Tips for keeping your tree happy
Top stallions in Ohio for trials
TRISTATE DIGEST
TRISTATE TREE FARMS
Voinovich wants Democrats barred from laundering case