Flint Township View

Family traditions

Finding the perfect Christmas tree can be fun, festive way to bring the family together


 

 

Family traditions can and do stand the test of time. Whether it’s taking silly family photos with everyone wearing Christmas pajamas, a special eggnog recipe, peanut brittle, grandpa’s famous dip or finding the perfect tree, families cherish traditions that make their family unique.

Heading out to a Christmas tree farm on a brisk, snowy day in Michigan to find the perfect Christmas tree is a part of our holiday experience that’s not common to everyone else in the U.S.

When it comes to the number of fresh Christmas trees harvested, Michigan is third only to Oregon and North Carolina. The other top producing states are Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington. Michigan supplies about three million fresh Christmas trees to the national market each year.

WHAT ARE OUR FAVORITES GROWN IN MICHIGAN?

1. Scotch pine
2. White pine
3. Blue Spruce
4. Black Hills Spruce
5. Balsam Fir
6. Concolor Fir
7. Fraser Fir

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT CHRISTMAS TREES

Ninety-eight percent of all
Christmas trees are grown on farms;
only 2 percent are cut from the wild.
Nationwide, the most popular
Christmas trees are Scotch pine,
Douglas fir, noble fir, Fraser fir, balsam
fir, Virginia pine and white pine.
The use of evergreen trees to
celebrate the winter season occurred
before the birth of Christ.
The first decorated Christmas tree
was in Riga, Latvia in 1510.
Thomas Edison’s assistant,
Edward Johnson, came up with the
idea of electric lights for Christmas
trees in 1882.
Christmas tree lights were first
mass-produced in 1890.
In 1963, the National Christmas Tree
was not lit until Dec. 22, because of
a national 30-day period of mourning
following the assassination of President
John F. Kennedy.
In 1930, the U.S.-based Addis
Brush Company created the first
artificial Christmas tree made from
brush bristles. The company used
the same machinery that it used to
manufacture toilet brushes, but they
were dyed green.
Eighty percent of artificial trees
worldwide are manufactured in China.

FIVE TIPS TO MAKE YOUR LIVE CHRISTMAS TREE LAST THROUGHOUT THE HOLIDAY

Tip 1: Give it the branch/trunk test. Take a branch out and put it down or tap the tree trunk on the ground. If considerable green needles fall out, the tree is already too dry. Don’t worry about the brown needles falling out; it’s the green needles that customers need to worry about on their prospective tree.

Tip 2: Get a fresh half-inch cut at the bottom of the trunk, especially if the tree is pre-cut. This allows the tree to “drink” water. Otherwise, the trunk will seal, blocking water absorption and the tree will dry out.

Tip 3: Put the tree in water right away and keep the water line above the cut end of the trunk. Otherwise, the trunk may seal and dry out.

Tip 4: Use a tree stand with a large water capacity. We recommend a quart of water per inch of the tree trunk’s diameter. Use plain water without additives.

Tip 5: Check the water level daily, especially in the first few days of bringing it home. The tree will soak up water more quickly in the first few days, and then will begin to slow down a bit.