Weston's Baytree Garden Centre offers tips on buying and treating a Christmas tree

Mark Cox from Baytree Garden Centre offers tips on how to buy and look after a Christmas tree...

The first step before picking a real Christmas tree is to understand the differences between the different types of Christmas trees. How many times have you heard people saying “Are these the ones that drop their needles?”

For many the quintessential Christmas tree is the Norway Spruce which Prince Albert introduced to Queen Victoria way back when which started the tradition in the UK of decorating a tree for Christmas. These spruce trees have a beautiful scent of pine and dark green spiky leaves the flip side to all this Christmas loveliness is that the leaves are prone to dropping.

Nordmann Fir trees are fuller trees with thicker set branches. They do lack the scent of a Nordmann pine, but they keep hold of their needles for longer.

The Fraser Fir is very similar to the Nordmann Fir Tree apart from the fact it is just a little slimmer.

Keep in mind that the taller you go with a real tree the circumference of the bottom branches increases and if you’re placing your tree into a corner it will need to stand further away from the walls which will encroach into your living space.

As a cautionary note, not all trees are the same, those grown in the UK will last better than those shipped across Europe which are bought in bulk and sold off cheaply. If you can avoid these trees please do so and remember as with all things in life quality is worth paying that little extra.

Before making a final decision make sure that you view the tree from all sides, and importantly know the height of the room you want to put your tree into.

It’s not a great feeling when you get your tree home and it doesn’t quite look how you’d imagined and you end up wishing you’d bought the other tree. Get to your local garden centre such as Baytree in good time before Christmas rather than leaving it until the last moment as you’ll find your choice of trees will be greatly reduced.

When you’ve chosen your tree and you’ve got it home don’t be tempted to bring it inside straight away. Leave it in a garage if you have one or, failing that, just leave it somewhere safe outside in your garden. The cooler you can keep your tree at this stage the better.

Before you bring your tree into your home cut a two inch slither of the bottom of the tree’s trunk. This fresh cut will allow the tree to take up water whilst inside your home.

Make sure that you buy a good quality tree stand which has a large enough reservoir to pour water into. I tell you now that you will be really surprised by how much water your tree can drink.

You’ll probably have to refill this reservoir at least every couple of days to keep it looking its best.

This is important so take note, please don’t place your tree next to a heat source as this will accelerate the drying out process which will mean your tree won’t look at its best for long.

You must keep your tree watered or else the tree will become stressed as it dehydrates thus causing the needles to drop as it tries to conserve water.

Use LED lights on your tree as they give off next to no heat unlike traditional filament bulbs.