Drysdale's

Christmas Tree Care and Frequently Asked Questions



Tree Care
  • Set your tree up as soon as possible to prevent the stump from sealing over. 
  • If you buy a pre-cut tree, or are unable to set the tree up within one hour of cutting, cut 1 inch off at the base of the stump to allow water to be drawn up more easily. 
  • If you are unable to set your tree up for a couple of days after bringing it home, store it in a garage or shed in a bucket of water, or somewhere outdoors in a shady spot where it will stay cold to prevent the tree from waking up and trying to drink water until you are able to set it up. Ensure you give it a fresh cut before bringing inside and putting in your stand.
  • Place your tree in a stand that holds at least 4L of water. If you don’t already have one, we have stands available for purchase. 
  • Check the water level daily and do not allow the water to drop below the fresh cut. If the water level drops below the stump, the tree will seal itself off, making it unable to drink water. If this happens, you will need to make another fresh cut and put back in water immediately. Some trees may need to be refilled twice daily for the first few days. Even well cared for trees can be a fire hazard. 
  • Avoid setting up your tree near heat sources like woodstoves and fireplaces, and never use lit candles as decoration in or near your tree.
  • Remember, like most living things, no two trees are exactly the same. While the above information is a great guideline that will keep most trees looking great through the holidays, some trees may not last as long despite all your best efforts. 


Frequently Asked Questions

“I followed all your instructions and my tree does not seem to be drinking much water”

How much water your tree will drink depends a lot on weather conditions before it was cut. When the temperature gets colder in the fall, trees will move their stored moisture from their branches into their root system for the winter. If temperatures are warmer in the fall, your tree may still have a lot of moisture in its branches, and it won’t need to drink as much water at first because of this.

If it has been consistently below 5 degrees Celsius for more than 2 weeks, and your tree is not drinking, you my need to give it another fresh cut.


“If I cut my own tree, how long will it last?”


Fraser and Balsam Fir both have excellent needle retention, and if cared for properly can last 6-8 weeks, and sometimes even longer. We’ve heard from people who kept their tree up well into February with no issues.

Spruce and Pine don’t last as long, which is why they are typically the cheaper option. A well cared for Spruce tree will typically only last 4 weeks before dropping a significant amount of needles.


“Should I add anything to the water to make my tree last longer?”

There are a lot of tree preservative products available through other retailers, but we recommend just plain old water. Many of the products available are not effective, and some can even make your tree lose needles quicker. Don’t add anything with sugar, like ginger ale to your water, as the dissolved sugars can clog the pores of the tree and prevent it from drinking.


“My tree is drinking a lot of water and drying out very fast, what can I do?”

This may be caused by where you have set your tree up in your house. Avoid setting up trees near heat sources, like woodstoves, fireplaces, radiators and heat ducts in your home. These will cause the tree to dry faster. Direct sunlight can also cause your tree to dry out faster. 


"Do you spray your trees with chemicals (or anything that may affect my pets)?"

While we do not use any herbicide or pesticides on our fields of grown Christmas trees, our farm is not certified organic as we do use fertilizers in our fields of saplings to help them grow. We may also occasionally spray sapling fields for insects or weeds in the spring/early summer if needed, but only if traditional methods like cultivating will not keep up (for example, we had to spray our landscape nursery trees during the Spongy Moth infestation of 2021, but had not had to resort to chemical sprays for several years prior to that).


"If I drill a hole in the bottom of my tree, will that help it drink more water?"

Trees drink most of their water from the fibers between the bark and the wood, so drilling a hole in the centre of the stump won't affect the trees ability to drink water one way or the other. The holes we drill at the farm are only for our unique tree stands, it is how the stand holds the tree up.