JanisMurray's Blog

Hi Everyone,

It's great to be back from vacation enjoying these cooler  temperatures!

These temps are part of what makes Sept. the perfect month to renovate your lawn. Here are the steps:

1) Cut your existing lawn short, about 1-2 inches.

2) Run a core-aerator over your lawn. This is a machine you can rent for about $40 and it pokes holes in your yard and pulls out plugs of soil. It looks like it's really tearing up your lawn, but that is good because the holes allow air to flow into the soil which is necessary for new grass growth. Just leave the plugs of soil on top and they will disintegrate on their own.

3) Then run a slit seeder over your aerated lawn. A slit seeder can also be rented for about $40 and it cuts groove lines into the yard and deposits the seed right in the grooves at the same time. This is much better than simply sprinkling seed which can travel in the wind or be eaten by birds.

Choose a grass seed for your light conditions. Do you have a sunny yard or a shady one? There are mixes for both. Also, in general, a good grass for our area is a tall turf fescue mix.

4) The 4th step is to broadcast a starter fertilizer over the entire seeded area. You will want to do this two more times this fall . . . a month from now in Oct., and again a month later in Nov..

5) Then (and this is optional) sprinkle straw over the seeded and fertilized area. This will act as a blanket that holds the seed in place and retains moisture which is necessary for seed germination.

6) Finally, YOU MUST WATER A NEWLY SEEDED LAWN 10-15 MINUTES  TWICE A DAY FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS. Good times are once in the morning and once in the early evening. This way you lose less to evaporation by avoiding the hottest times of day.

When people lose a newly seeded lawn and are disappointed, it is usually because they forgot the ongoing responsibility to water. Be careful not to drench the area either. This could cause run off of the seeds.

If you follow these easy steps, you will have a beautiful lawn by mid-fall and it will pop up thick and lush next spring without work. And it is always great to have the lawn all ready and done at the busiest time of year for gardening in our beds....spring.

If you can't or don't want to do this all yourself. Simply call a reputable lawn service to do it for you. But call early because most are very busy with lawn renovations in Sept..

And about that new battery powered reel lawn mower we debuted on the Morning Show today, it is by a company called MANTIS. You can get more information at www.mantis.com.

The mower is not sold in stores in our area. But you can order it. It takes about a half hour to assemble, and you have to charge it for 24 hours before the first use. It will cut a lawn size of 2500 sq ft on one charge. It has a 24 volt NiCad battery. The push style reel mower does a clean scissors cut on lawns and at 25 lbs. it is easy to push. When finished just plug it into the charger to be ready for next time. Plus it is quiet for close neighborhoods and non-polluting because it doesn't use gasoline. The cost is $379. We're going to keep testing ours through this fall and will have more on the results later on.

Happy renovating!

Janis Murray

Hi Everybody,

Here's the scoop on the Naturesweet Homegrown Tomato Challenge this Saturday, Auguest 16th, at the Missouri Botanical Garden.

There will be two top winners . . .each one wins $2500 . ... one for the best large tomato and one for the best small tomato. Then there will be 6 runners up, each of whom will win a $250 gift certificate to either Schnucks, Dierbergs or Shop & Save!

Any home gardener who grows tomatoes can enter.  All you do is pick 3 large or 6 small tomatoes -- all of the same variety -- and go the Missouri Botanical Garden on Shaw in St. Louis city THIS SATURDAY MORNING. Registration opens at 9am & goes to 11am -- people bringing tomatoes to enter the contest will receive free admission. The judging includes a Brix test measuring sweetness and a taste test by a 5 judge panel who will also ask each entrant how they grew their tomatoes. The winners will be announced at noon and you must be present to win.

Other activities at the event include sampling of tomato recipes specially created for the event, information on gardening, a Prize wheel, and a Tomato Trivia Quiz with a Weber BBQ as the prize & more.

There are no restrictions on the variety or method of growing tomatoes, except that all entries must be homegrown by the entrant. The contest is NOT open to commercial growers.

For more information, call toll-free 1-800-315-8209 or long on to NatureSweet's web site at www.naturesweettomatoes.com  or go to www.mobot.org

Good luck!

Janis

Hi everybody!

WHILE SOME PLANTS WITHER

IN THESE HOT, HUMID DAYS . . .

SUMMER BLOOMING SHRUBS EXPLODE

WITH FLOWERS!

THAT'S WHY EVERY HOME GARDEN SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST ONE SUMER BLOOMING SHRUB.

SO WE WANT TO GIVE YOU SOME CHOICES

THAT YOU CAN PLANT NOW.

THESE ARE SUGGESTIONS FROM RAND ROSENTHAL OF ROSENTHAL LANDSCAPE & DESIGN: 

HYDRANGEAS ARE GOOD CHOICES

ESPECIALLY,  HYDRANGEA "TARDIVA"

               It blooms July-Oct in full sun with bright white flowers. Planted in the 23 or 5 gallon size about 3 feet tall,

it can grow to 12-15 by maturity in 5 years.

                       HYDRANGEA LIMELIGHT

               It blooms July-Sept in full sun and is slightly shorter growing to about 10 feet in 3-4 years. Also has showy white flowers.

                      HYDRANGEA "NIKKO BLUE"

               It blooms June-Sept in a mix of morning sun and afternoon shade. Grows to 3-4 feet high, making it better for mass plantings in beds. To make them be true blue,

add granular aluminum sulfate as a soil amendment in the early spring, later winter. This is available at most garden centers, just follow package directions. Another good hydrangea in a similar size range is the ANNABELLE HYDRANGEA which blooms white and does not need the aluminum sulfate. Same sun conditions. 

NOW LEAVING THE HYDRANGEA FAMILY,

WE HAVE THE

                  CREPE MYRTLE

showy flowers and comes as a tree or shrub. Also spelled "Crape Myrtle".This is more of a southern plant some it is marginally hardy in our area which means it does not always come back year after year dependably (for example, if we have a really rough, cold winter). We are right on the line of growing Zone 5, so it is possibly the same crepe myrtle tree would do better in Cape Girardeau just to our south than here. Gorgeous red, white or pink flowers growing in full sun. Starts around 3 feet tall and can grow to reach 16 feet. But it does attract bees so if you are allergic to bees, consider a different summer bloomer.

CHYRON: HIBISCUS "DIANE"

                blooms July-Sept in full sun

¶HARDY HIBISCUS.

This one is called "Diane" and is good for our area because it is a "hardy" variety

which means it will come back year after

year as opposed to the "tropical" varieties

that will die over the winter.

Blooms July-Sept. in full sun. Famous for its "face sized" flowers. Kids love them!

AND FINALLY, EVERYBODY LOVES ROSES,

CONSIDER:     "KNOCKOUT" ROSES

                 bloom May-Nov, fertilize every 6wks.

These have become super popular in the last 5 years because they bloom so dependably all summer plus are disease resistant (often a problem with other rose varieties).

But like with all roses, you need to fertilize every 6 weeks.

They will grow to 4-5 feet tall and also come as

"Double Knockouts" which means a bloom on top of a bloom

so the flower is bigger just like there are impatiens and "double" impatiens like you tied a double bow on a gift package instead of a single.

AND YOU CAN PLANT ALL OF THEM NOW!

JUST MAKE SURE YOU WATER THEM WELL EVERY 2 DAYS FOR THE FIRST 2 WEEKS. AND MAKE SURE THEY GET AT LEAST ONE INCH OF WATER FROM YOU OR FROM RAIN AFTER THAT.

Dig a hole one and a half times the diameter of the rootball, choose well draining soil. So if you have clay,

make sure you add some leaf compost and even better, a little sand. Use those muscles to mix all ingredients together so the roots can spread. Imagine if you were a tender root trying to punch your way through modelling clay . . .doesn't work, so prepare your soil well.

Have fun & enjoy these summer stunners!

Best to all,

Janis

Hi Everybody,

OK, we are almost half way through the outdoor gardening season . . . and going into highest heat of summer, so-o-o-o

1) Cut off pest or sun scorch damaged leaves from hostas and other perennials. This focusses the plants energy on producing new healthy leaves instead of trying to support dying ones.

2)Cut back ground covers and other plants that may be getting in the way of the light flow from outdoor lighting.No need to waste electricity on lighting we can't see because plants are in the way! And you need lighting for safety on stairs, etc.

3)Give summer blooming annuals (like petunias in pots)

and perennials (like geranium rosanne) a HAIRCUT. Cut back by one third to give them a boost to grow more bushy and produce more flowers.  Plants that get "leggy" which is long stemmed but producing few flowers will benefit most.

4) Deadhead spent blooms. This means pinching off the blooms that are past their prime. This also invigorates the plant to produce more new flowers.

5)Fill in empty spots with summer bloomers . . . since it's mid-season and garden centers are trying to clear out their inventory, you can find some good prices right now! Summer blooming shrubs will add pop to your garden too, like hibiscus!

This kind of trimming and maintenance also increases air flow through your garden which helps prevent mold, mildew and other problems common in high heat. Plus it all makes your gardens look better for more enjoyment!

Stay cool . . .

Best,

Janis

Hi everybody!

OK, here's the word on the Forst Park Field Day this weekend I was talking about on the news this morning. . . .

It's at Forest Park in the grove of trees just east of the History Museum so you can park in their lot.

It starts at 9a and runs to 4 on Saturday, 7/27

There's a fun tree climb for kids  . . . they wear a seat harness and

are helped with ropes plus kids corner activities such as leaf identification, bag stamping and seedling transplanting. There is also an outdoor trade show of the latest gadgets and machines used for tending to big trees.

During the entire day in the same area, professional athletes will be participating in the INTERNATIONAL TREE CLIMBING CHAMPIONSHIPS. The preliminaries are on Saturday, and the Championships are all day Sunday. There are several challenges like race climbing a tree to ring a bell, to prune off a branch, and to save a person stuck high in a tree in less than 4 minutes!  The World Champions will be there to defend their titles. They are Chrissy Spence travelling from New Zealand and Bernd Strasser coming in from Germany!

All of this kicks off the annual convention of the INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE . . .certified arborists who work for utilities and public parks and commerically for residences plus scientists and machinery makers from all over the world.

The INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF ARBORICULTURE (ISA) is headquartered in Champaign, IL, and is a nonprofit org. supporting tree care research and education around the world. To promote the importance of arboriculture, ISA manages the consumer education we site, www.treesaregood.org.

For more info on the conference, visit www.isa-arbor.com/conference. It runs through next Wed.

For more info. on the field day, contact Sonia Garth, the ISA Public and Industry Relations Manager at 217-355-9411, ext. 217, or e-mail: sgarth@isa-arbor.com

And remember all family activities Sat. & Sun. including the championships are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

IF YOU GO, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK, OK?

Tree care tips for summer include:

WATER YOUR TREES WITH A SLOW DRIP HOSE FOR ABOUT 3 HRS. EVERY TWO WEEKS DURING SUMMER. "SLOW DRIP" IS NECESSARY FOR THE WATER TO BE ABSORBED DEEP INTO THE ROOTS AND NOT JUST RUN OFF.

SUMMER IS ALSO A GOOD TIME TO CUT OUT DEAD WOOD.  YOU CAN RECOGNIZE IT EASILY NOW BECAUSE DEAD BRANCHES WILL NOT HAVE LEAVES AND WILL CRACK EASILY!

FERTILIZE TREES IN THE FALL WITH A LIQUID OR GRANULAR FERTILIZER. More on that later . . .

Best to all,

Janis

Hi everybody,

We announced all the winners of the FOX 2 Great Home Garden Contest this morning and I want to personally thank everybody who entered this year!

Each year we have more and more entries and the pictures get better too!  If you didn't enter this year, you should really think about it for next year . . . the prizes are pretty good . . .$600 in prizes for category winners and $300 for runners up . . . and all you have to do is send or e-mail us 4-6 pictures of your garden???  In this economy, that's a winner deal.

And please don't think your garden has to be the best in the world or our town or even your block . . . you may think the guy down the street has a better garden, but he may not enter or yours may be better than you think! 

The number one thing I hear winners say every year is:

"I almost didn't enter . . .I didn't think my garden was anything special . . ."  and then they are super happy when they win, and shocked that they hesitated!

So think about it, and enjoy the pictures of the winners on our web site. . .just check out myfoxstl.com and click on the morning show tab and look to the right for the Home Garden . . .

I can't wait to visit these gardens in person this summer and share them with you!

Happy gardening, Happy summer, Happy 4th!!

Janis

Hi Everybody!

St. Louis is the center of the Hosta world this week!

More than 300 members of the American Hosta Society are holding their 40th annual convention at the Sheraton Westport Chalet (the Swiss looking bldg) today, Wed. 6/11 through Sat. 6/14. 

They are touring 14 fabulous St. Louis Home Gardens loaded with hostas. Plus there are lots of seminars and vendors featuring the latest in hostas at the hotel.

The public is invited and to view the schedule of events just go to stlouishosta.org or call 314-965-7027 or the Sheraton directly.

If you ever wanted to know anything about hostas, here's your chance. These folks from all over the country know it all!

Hostas are shade loving perennials known for their long green leaves that come in all shapes and hundreds of shades of green, many with variegated (striped) leaves.

Hostas are the most popular perennials in the world followed by day lilies in the number #2 spot. Hostas are the top selling perennials in the U.S. too!

There are as many as 5,000 varieties and some local home gardeners have as many as 640 varieties in their home collections! That's one reason the American Hosta Society chose St. Louis for it's big convention!

Hostas are relatively inexpensive and any shade garden should have at least a few . . .their colors and textures brighten up shade beautifully and dependably.

If you want to grow them:

--They like shade, or shade with some morning sun. Planted in full sun, they will scorch out.

--They like lots of water (so they are very happy this year!)

--Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer like a 12-12-12. You can do it once for the season with a slow release fertilizer like Osmocote. Or fertilize them every two weeks during the season with something like Miracle Gro.

--Hostas are prone to slugs . . .they like to eat the leaves. So, to control slugs, you can sprinkle slug bait that contains poison (so don't use if you have pets or kids) or your organic alternatives are coffee grounds (the caffeine freaks out the slugs) or putting a saucer of beer near the base of the plant (slugs love beer and drown). You can also pouf diatomaceous earth (powdered crustaceans) onto the undersides of the leaves with a hand squeeze "puffer" available at garden centers.

Have fun! Hosta-lah-vee-stah!

Janis

Hi Everyone! Lots of gardening activities for children this weekend.

First up, Saturday morning, May 3rd, at 9am the FOX 2 CHILDRENS GARDEN CLUB meets at Queeny Park to plant and learn about annuals . . .those big summer bloomers . . .It's free and parents are welcome, plus there's always something to take home to grow! The activity lasts about an hour. Click on the "Morning Show" tab and then on "Home Garden" for the schedule for the whole year . . .  the always meet the first Saturday morning of every month, and we are very grateful to the St. Louis County Parks Department and the participating local nurseries who always make this a fun, family event! For Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops too!

Then on Sunday, May 4th, in St. Charles, Youth In Need will dedicate its new Monsanto Fund Science Discovery Garden. There'll be activities for kids and families from 1p to 4p. The garden is 6,000 square feet including a Koi pond, waterfall, sand play yard, teepee, gazebo, and walkways. Very pretty and fun!  Check out the elephant ears the kids are planting too. Youth in Need is a non-profit group that serves 10,000 children in St. Charles, St. Louis and St. Louis County at 250 locations. But this garden is the best and so good it was just selected from 700 children's gardens nationwide for a Youth Garden Grant from the National Gardening Association.  For more info, call 636-946-5600 and ask for April....or check out www.youthinneed.org

Also, it's time to start planting your summer bulbs!

Have a great weekend!

Janis

Hi everybody,

Spring in St. Louis is bringing us some real seesaw temps again . . . so it's tricky to decide when to plant annuals and I'm getting lots of questions about it.

I'm holding off for now . . . as long as Dave keeps saying there's a chance of frost.

If you plant annuals and it dips down to 32, you could lose them.

So I'm keeping those cloth garden frost blankets at the ready to cover young perennials and the daffodils and tulips.  Those blankets can keep the temp below them as much as 10 degrees warmer and that can make the difference.  Just remember to remove them each morning so your plants can get sun.  Since Japanese Maples had a tough year of damage last year, I covered those too with big bed sheets last night and they looked fine when I removed them this morning.

Remember the plants, trees and shrubs that are farthest out from the house and most exposed to the weather are the most vulnerable, especially if they are young or really old.

Your house can act as something of a heat island and protection from wind, so plantings close to the house have an easier time of it in the seesaws of our spring temps and winds.

More later . . . keep checking Dave's weather reports for the latest . . .

if you see the 5p show, there is still time before dark to lay out your frost covers or bed sheet covers.

Best,

Janis

HI EVERYBODY,

HERE'S THE INFO. ON THE GREEN ROOFS I TALKED ABOUT THIS MORNING . .. AND YOU CAN SEE MORE ON THIS ON MY NEXT "HOME GARDEN" THIS SATURDAY, 2/23 AT 9:30AM ON FOX 2.

tHERE'S LOTS OF INFO. ABOUT GREEN ROOFS AT:

WWW.GREENROOFS.ORG & WWW.GREENROOFS.COM . .

YOU CAN CONTACT JOST GREENHOUSES AT 314-821-2834

AND KELLY LUCKETT WHOSE CO. MAKES THE "MODULES" IS AVAILABLE THROUGH WWW.GREENROOFBLOCKS.COM OR 314-972-8010. IT'S A SUBSIDIARY OF SAINT LOUIS METALWORKS CO.

AND TO SEE THE FEATURE WE DID, JUST CLICK ON "MORNING SHOW" THEN CLICK ON "HOME GARDEN" RIGHT HERE ON WWW.MYFOXSTL.COM

MOST GREEN ROOFS ARE ON FLAT ROOFED BUILDINGS AND USUALLY IN A COMMERCIAL SETTING . . . LIKE A WAREHOUSE, OFFICE BLDG. OR A BIG BOX STORE.  BUT THEY ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON SLIGHTLY SLANTED RESIDENTIAL ROOFS IF THE ROOF IS STRONG ENOUGH TO BEAR THE WEIGHT.  THIS IS A JUDGMENT CALL BY A STRUCTURAL ENGINEER, WHOM YOU WOULD NEED TO CONSULT.  BUT IF YOU ARE BUILDING A NEW HOME AND WOULD LIKE A GREEN ROOF IT CAN BE PART OF THE ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURAL PLAN, AND THEN THE ROOF CAN BE "STRESSED" TO BEAR THE WEIGHT DURING CONSTRUCTION.

REMEMBER, GREEN ROOFS ARE GOOD BECAUSE:

THEY INSULATE THE BUILDING, THUS REDUCING HEATING AND COOLING COSTS.

THEY CLEAN THE AIR BY PRODUCING AND RELEASING OXYGEN.

THEY REDUCE HEAT BY ABSORBING RATHER THAN REFLECTING ULTRAVIOLET RAYS.

AND THEY REDUCE STORM RUN OFF BY ABSORBING RAINFALL.

THE MOST DURABLE PLANTS FOR GREEN ROOFS ARE IN THE SEDEM FAMILY....  VERY DROUGHT TOLERANT AND STRONG PLANTS THAT ARE ALSO QUITE DURABLE GROUND COVERS IN YOUR GARDEN.  THEY CAN LIVE ON RAINFALL THUS RARELY, IF EVER, NEED HAND WATERING OR IRRIGATION.

CHECK IT OUT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

BEST TO ALL,

JANIS

P.S. AND IF YOU HAVE ANY GARDEN TOPICS YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO COVER THIS WINTER GOING INTO SPRING, PLEASE COMMENT HERE AND LET ME KNOW. . . AS I AM STARTING TO PLAN NEW STORIES FOR MARCH AND APRIL NOW! THANKS!

Many of our medicines and supplements come from plants and the Missouri Botanical Garden is in the forefront of this research worldwide. 

What they do is they send out "ethnobotanists" to remote areas of the globe to find out how people (the "ethno") are using plants (the "botany").  This all is headed up by our guest this week, Dr. Rainer Bussmann, of the William Brown Center for Plant Research.

He's a great guy who told me the story of Quinine as an example . . .Quinine grow on the Quinine tree and indigenous people in South America have used it for centuries to cure malaria.  When the Spanish explorers arrived in the 16-1700's they were prey to malaria, and learning about quinine from the locals saved their lives!  They took samples of this plant back to Spain with them and thus the knowledge of the healing powers of quinine spread through Western Europe.

So today ethnobotanists travel to Peru, Madagascar, Africa, and Asia in search of helpful plants . . . and with a desire to save them before they go extinct through deforestation.  Part of the idea is to help the local population by urging them to grow more of the helpful plants to sell and make money to live. The other part of the plant is to bring samples back to grow them here and start research that could lead to medicines.

Here are some of the plant discoveries he told me about:

Curare -- This is a vine that contains a chemical that paralyzes muscles temporarily. Natives used this as a "poison" to put on their arrows, so that an animal they hit would be instantly paralyzed.  The good usage of this chemical has come to be in surgery . . . by relaxing  the muscles of the patient, surgery can begin.

Ginger -- This food shows promise in preventing morning sickness, motion sickness and other cases of nausea.  Ginger tea is also helpful in treating a cold and sore throat.

Turmeric -- This is the curry spice used quite often in Indian & Morrocan foods. Preliminary studies indicate this spice might help prevent Alzheimers disease and even cancer in some cases.  Interestingly, in India where people consume a lot of turmeric in foods, Alzheimers disease is practically non-existent.

Cocoa -- The fruit of the cocoa tree is the source of chocolate. Chocolate has been shown to have antidepressant properties . . . especially the natural dark (not milk) chocolate.

So these are just a few and the research goes on!  Pretty interesting, huh?

And St. Louis is the leader in this research!  You can see all these plants in the Climatron and the Missouri Botanical Garden on any visit!

Best to all,

Janis 

Hi everybody. . . .good to be back from a two week vacation . . . . and see the wonderful orchids at the annual ORCHID SHOW AT THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN!

They are gorgeous!  Show starts this Sat. 2/2 and runs daily, 9a-5p, through March 16th.

If you're a MOBOT member, it's free, if not, there's a small fee.

Totally worth it and . . .IT'S WARM IN THERE!    Yea!!!

Best to all,

Janis

Hi everybody!

Hope you had a great holiday!  We are LOVING having our son Austin home for 2 weeks!

If you  have family in town or just want to have fun . . . . go to the Gardenland

Express train show at the Missouri Botanical Garden . . . .The theme this year is "Wilderness Escape" and it is amazing!!!!

They've made replicas of the lodges and frontier villages in the national park system, complete with tee pee villages and gondolas running up snow covered mountains.

There's even the geyser Ole Faithful spouting out every 15 seconds . . . .much faster than the hour you wait at the real Yellowstone Park!

The show is great for all ages, and there's even a "seek and find it" game for kids!

Show runs through January 1st . . . .for more details check out www.mobot.org!

Happy New Year!

Janis

Hi everybody!

If you want to go on the Christmas House Bus tour tomorrow night, Wed. 12/12,

It leaves from the Missouri Botanical Garden at 5pm.  There is one house on the tour, the one we showed you glimpses of this morning on the news.

For more information, click the link to the Missouri Botanical Garden page.

www.mobot.org.

Merry Christmas,

Janis

Everbody has their own view of the perfect Christmas tree!

That's one reason so many different kinds are grown in all 50 states.

Most of the trees for sale here are from Oregon, Washington, Canada, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, or locally from Illinois. Nationwide, more than 30 million fresh trees will be sold this season.

To choose yours, consider what you like, how many ornaments you have (or want to put up AND put away), and cost.

The Scotch Pines and White Pines will be the least expensive, a 6 foot tree ranging around $40. The Frasier and Noble Firs are bigger and more expensive, a 7-8 foot tree ranging around $75-80.00.

You can buy a 2 foot high, mini balsam, often called "the Charlie Brown" tree, for around $15 . . .coming with its own wooden stand.

Speaking of Balsams, the full size ones are among the most popular trees nationwide, but they will be a little more expensive this year because they are grown in Canada, and the US dollar is weak against Canadian currency right now.

Pines tend to have softer branches and needles so lights look great on them, but they don't hold heavy ornaments well. Choose light weight baubles.

Firs have stronger branches for holding both lights and many ornaments.

When looking at trees, check for freshness. Do this by holding a branch in your hand and gently pulling out to its tip.  If no needles come off, it's a fresh tree. If lots of needles come off, move on to the next tree.

Whatever tree you choose, make sure that where you buy it they make a "fresh cut" off the bottom of the trunk. This will open up the passages to take in water up the trunk of the tree to keep it fresh.  You have about 6-8 hours to get your tree in water before the sap will seal over the fresh cut, and then you'll have to make a new cut. In a bucket of water, you can store your tree in the garage for several days.

When you put your tree up, make sure the stand is big enough so you don't have to whittle down the outside bark to make the trunk fit.     It's the outside bark that absorbs the water fastest and best.

Also, your stand needs to be able to hold enough water to keep your tree moist.  The general rule of thumb, according to the National Christmas Tree Association, is to pour in 1 quart of water for every 1 inch of the diameter of the trunk. So for a 4 inch stem, you need a stand that can hold a gallon of water (4 quarts = 1 gallon).  Then throughout the season be sure to check the water level regularly and add more as needed.  A dry tree can become a fire hazard quickly.

Real trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. It may take up to 15 years to produce a tree, but for every one harvested, 3 seedlings are planted.  There are a half million acres growing Christmas trees in the U.S. with each acre providing the daily oxygen requirement for 18 people. The industry provides 100,000 jobs a year in the U.S..

Merry Christmas,

Janis