How to Choose the Perfect Christmas Tree

How to Choose the Perfect Christmas Tree
Ho, ho, ho! Santa here for Expert Village. Friends, it’s that time of year again, my favorite time of year: time for a trip to the Christmas tree farm. It just so happens that tree shopping is one of Santa’s specialties, so come along while we pick up a good'n. Now, the perfect tree for your home is very much a matter of taste preference. But there are some basics that everyone ought to consider. The first is height. You don’t want your tree to be too small nor too large for the room you are going to put it in. A good rule of thumb is the tree at the time of cutting should be about eighty percent the height of the room. So, let’s say maybe a six foot tree or 6 ½ foot tree would be ideal for an eight foot room, and an eight foot tree for a ten foot room. Next consideration for your tree is fullness. You want a tree that is plenty of full healthy looking and fills the room. Not something like this with bare spots, very evident missing branches. The poor thing looks almost dead already. Look for a tree that is full and healthy looking like this one. No missing branches, more bare spots, no bald spots to interrupt your decor. You want a tree with a straight trunk. If you were to take this tree looking at the angle, the trunk comes out of the ground. That is the angle your tree is going to stand in the tree stand. So you want a tree like this one. Nice straight trunk will stick straight up out of your tree stand. Sound advice is that you always cut the tree as close to the ground as you can. You want plenty of room below the bottom branch for your stand and for your gifts underneath the tree and also if you find you have too much trunk, you can always take some off. So leave yourself an opportunity to change your mind. If possible, get the tree farmer to do the cutting for you. Your last and final step before removing the tree from the property is to shake loose the needles. As you will see in a moment, Santa’s belly really does shake like a bowl full of jelly. That will be $37.00 Santa. I mean free. Thank you ma'am. Now we are ready to take our tree home. Note that we have mounted the tree on top of the vehicle with the trunk toward the front. The tree is not longer than the vehicle mounted on and always remember when you have a tree tied on top of your vehicle--do not exceed 120 miles per hour. Ho, ho, ho and a Merry Christmas from Expert Village!