The shedding of the fir

A number of factors go into selecting our Christmas tree each year. There are a couple givens: The tree must be real and it must fit in the living room. Aside from that, most of the other considerations derive from species choice: form and color, needle softness and aroma. 

I tend toward the balsam fir. It has the best smell, a wonderful shape and lovely dark green color. The needles are softer than blue spruce, and some maintain that they keep their needles longer than other varieties. I’m not sure if this is truly the case, and have come to accept that needle loss is part of the package with cut trees. 

The culprit is the hormone ethylene, which Christmas trees start to produce a week or so after cutting. With balsam firs the process begins in about 10 days and complete needle loss happens a month later. 

There are a number of home remedies that people have tried to increase needle retention time, some of which have been discredited (adding bleach or Viagra to the water) and others such as aspirin, which is hazardous to household pets. 

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Scientists have demonstrated in the laboratory that the ethylene-blocker amino-ethoxyvinylglycine (AVG) holds promise, but unless you have ready access to that stuff, you are better off following the standard advice, which is to keep the tree well hydrated and away from heating sources. 

Some people water their tree with ice cubes. Starting with a fresh-cut tree or, failing that, a newly cut trunk, will buy a little time. Taking down the tree after the New Year is the surest method for preventing total needle loss.

Tim Abbott is program director of Housatonic Valley Association’s Litchfield Hills Greenprint. His blog is at www.greensleeves.typepad.com.