That green tree in your living room for the holidays can also be green for another reason: the environment. Artificial trees are popular, and for good reason. You can reuse it year after year. You can buy a pre-lit one and never have to string lights again. You can fluff it however you want and not worry about it drying out or losing branches before Christmas even arrives. And you don’t have to worry about adding water to the base or risk spills or leaks on your floors. These are wonderful pros for an artificial tree, but there are great reasons to opt for a live tree as well.
It takes about eight to ten years for a tree farm to produce a Christmas tree for market. Once that tree is cut down, another one is planted, creating a stream of growing trees year after year. About 30 million trees are sold at Christmastime, but there are hundreds of millions more still growing on the many tree farms around the country. It takes a huge number of resources to make artificial trees and lots of carbon emissions. Additionally, when it’s finally time to throw out that plastic tree, it will sit in the landfill forever, never fully decomposing. It may seem harmful at first to cut down live trees each year, but the replanting practices and the sustainable nature of live trees makes them the wiser choice.
Nothing beats the scent of a healthy, bright Christmas tree making your entire home smell like the season of giving. You may want to think about skipping the evergreen candle and go for the real deal. Evergreen trees are lush and fragrant, both inside your home and outside your home. You’ve made your indoor tree look merry and beautiful this season, but the evergreen trees outside need some tender loving care as well.
Large evergreen tees need particular pruning to keep their branches from breaking during heavy snowfall. A well-trimmed evergreen is beautiful in any yard all year round, but it’s especially festive during the winter months. Evergreen trees can be a handful to maintain—you need to rake up the needles and pinecones throughout the year and they require consistence upkeep to ensure it’s healthy. Some evergreens, like the Norway Spruce or the Eastern White Pine, can get massive, so you want to make sure you’re keeping up on trimming and health needs of the tree. When that huge tree dies, it’s a lot of work to remove (a quality service we provide), so you want to take the care seriously. This winter, apply some mulch to the soil, give it a good soak, and check out the branches to see if there are any diseased or broken areas that need attention. And while you’re providing your tree in your yard some care, think about the Christmas tree inside your house and make the change this year to a real tree. As a bonus, there are many local tree farms you can support, too. For all your tree needs, call Timber Ridge Tree Service today.
