Oh, Christmas Tree
Long before the advent of Christmas, the green foliage of conifer trees in winter reminded ancient cultures that summer would return.
Germans in the 16th century are credited with bringing the first decorated Christmas trees into their homes, while Protestant reformer Martin Luther is said to have added lighted candles to the tree.
But in America, Christmas trees were regarded as pagan. In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts outlawed any observance of Dec. 25, other than a church service, calling trees and decorations “heathen traditions.”
By the early 1800s, Christmas trees had not gained much popularity, except among German families, and, particularly, among Pennsylvania German settlers, who had community trees as early as the mid-1700s.
But in the mid-1800s, the combination of an influx of Irish and German immigrants, as well published sketches of British Queen Victoria and her (German) Prince Albert standing with their children around a Christmas tree, shifted the American regard for Christmas trees from pagan mockery to fashionable practice.
Americans put their own stamp on the tradition by shunning the European standard of trees measuring about four feet tall for trees reaching floor to ceiling.
Now an American icon, the first Christmas tree placed at New York's Rockefeller Center was put there by construction workers in 1931, and the city placed the first lit tree there two years later.
Tough tree-cisions
Nowadays people can get cut trees or live trees, which have a “root bulb” wrapped in burlap to be planted after the holidays.
Tom McMeekin, owner of Quality Gardens in Adams Township, said live trees generally should be kept indoors no longer than three weeks, while cut trees can last twice that long. “I think you should get at least a month, if not six weeks, out of a cut tree, if you treat it properly,” he said.
That includes cutting the trunk of the tree again before putting it up at home.
“The reason for this is that the pine sap will harden on the cut end of the tree, effectively capping it and preventing water from entering the tree,” McMeekin said.
He said a cut tree should be watered as soon as it's in the stand and that water should be refreshed frequently, especially in the first few days.
Live trees are cared for differently, and that care starts before the purchase is made.
“Decide where you want the tree to be planted before the ground freezes, dig the hole and cover the dirt with a tarp or something like that,” McMeekin said. “That way, when you go to plant it, you don't have to worry about the ground being frozen.”
He said an efficient, clean way to water a live tree is by placing ice cubes on top of root bulb and letting them melt. This keeps the root bulb cooler and slows the process of the tree coming out of dormancy.
There are several kinds of cut trees to buy, some better than others.
McMeekin said, “We've found that the Canaans are similar to a Fraser fir, which is sort of the Cadillac of Christmas trees, but (Canaans) grow faster, so they are cheaper to the public. They are soft-needled, the branches are strong enough to hold support ornaments and the holding quality is superior.”
The Pennsylvania Christmas Tree Growers Association recommends balsam and concolor firs, Scotch and white pines, and Norway, white and Colorado blue spruces. Its website, www.christmastrees.org, describes each tree and rates it in terms of needle retention (how quickly the needles may fall off); branch strength for ornament hanging; and fragrance, among other factors.
