How to keep your Christmas tree fresh

Bring it home and get it into water

When a Christmas tree is cut, more than half its weight is water, and keeping it drinking is the whole secret. Most trees can go 6 to 8 hours after the trunk is cut and still take up water, so get yours into water soon after you get it home.

Not putting it up straight away? Stand it in a bucket of water somewhere cool, shaded and out of the wind, like a garage, and keep the bucket full. It will keep that way for several days.

Make a fresh cut

If it's been more than about 6 hours since the trunk was cut, or the stand has ever run dry, saw a disc 1 to 2 cm thick off the bottom of the trunk before it goes in the stand. Once the base dries out, sap seals over the cut and the tree can't drink, however much water is in the stand.

Cut straight across the trunk. An angled or V-shaped cut is harder to hold in the stand and leaves the tree less water to drink, and drilling a hole in the trunk doesn't help it take up water. Keep the fresh cut clean: don't bruise it or let it get dirty.

Choose a stand that fits

Use a stand with a water reservoir that holds at least 4 litres, or about 1 litre for every 2.5 cm across the trunk. The bigger the reservoir, the less likely it is to run dry.

Don't shave the bark off the trunk to make it fit. The outer layers of wood carry the most water, so pick a stand that fits the tree instead.

Need a stand? Add one to your order ($35) and it will be waiting with your tree at pickup. Add a stand

Water it every day

Check the stand every day and top it up. Keep the water above the base of the trunk: a stand can still have water in it after the trunk has stopped sitting in it, so look rather than guess.

Plain tap water is all your tree needs, and the water's temperature doesn't matter. Research has found that sugar, aspirin, commercial mixes and other additives aren't necessary to keep a tree fresh. If you do use tree food, follow its label and keep it away from pets and children.

Watering under the presents is fiddly. Tuck a funnel into the back of the tree with a metre or so of plastic tube running down the trunk into the reservoir, and you can top it up without moving a thing.

Pick the right spot

Keep the tree away from heaters, heat vents, fireplaces and direct sun, including hot afternoon sun through a window. In a Melbourne December, the coolest room in the house is the best place: a cooler room slows drying, so the tree uses less water each day. Don't stand it where an air conditioner, fan or heater blows straight onto it.

Lights and safety

• Use LED or miniature lights: they give off less heat, so they dry the tree out less.
• Check every set of lights before it goes on the tree, and replace any with worn cords.
• Turn the lights off when you go to bed or leave the house.
• A dry tree burns easily. Never burn any part of a Christmas tree in a fireplace or wood heater.

More in our Christmas tree and lights safety guide.

How long will it last?

Looked after properly, a fresh-cut tree will last at least five weeks. Keep an eye on it, and once it has dried out (brittle needles that drop when you brush past), take it down.

After Christmas: recycle your tree

Take off every decoration, light and hook, and take it out of the stand.

In the City of Boroondara (Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, Balwyn and nearby), the council collects real Christmas trees from your nature strip in January, up to 2 per property, and turns them into mulch for parks and gardens. Book a collection for your preferred week on the council's website. You can also take up to 2 live trees to the Boroondara Recycling and Waste Centre for free during January (bring proof that you live in Boroondara), or cut your tree up to fit in your food and garden organics (FOGO) bin.

Live somewhere else? Check your council's website for its Christmas tree collection.