Christmas tree picking tips from a grower

VIRGINIA BEACH

What's your holiday tree tradition?

Do you pull your artificial tree down out of the attic along with the lights, ornaments, tinsel and other decorations?

Or are you a stickler for a real tree that not only infuses your house with the heady scent of pine but also litters your floor with needles?

Right after Thanksgiving, do you head to your favorite tree lot and purchase a tree, or tramp through the woods behind grandpa's farm to chop your own tree down?

Do you go to a Christmas tree farm out in the country to cut one, or do you go to a nursery to find a live tree ready to be planted in your yard after the holidays?

If you're a real-tree kind of person, whatever route you choose, Christmas tree grower Jim Bright has some tips for you.

Bright has been growing and selling trees for 25 years at Bright's Christmas Tree Farm on Princess Anne Road in Virginia Beach, not too far from the North Carolina line.

Bright opened Saturday with cut-your-own trees and will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today and on Saturdays and Sundays until he sells out.

Bright raises three trees on his farm: Douglas fir, Norway spruce and his favorite, white pine.

"White pines hold their needles better than any other tree," he said. "And it's a pretty airy-looking tree."

Folks think the white pine is hard to decorate because its needles and branches are flimsy. Bright and his wife have come up with a way of decorating the white pine to deal with the delicate branches and to enhance their airiness.

"Decorate with white lights back into the trunk," Bright said, "and colored lights on the outside and ornaments in between."

Ornaments in between tend not to weigh down the tips of the branches, he said.

Bright sells more white pines than any other tree because he raises more of them, but Douglas firs also are popular, he said. The needles are short, soft and not prickly.

"If you have lots of ornaments, a Douglas fir might be a good tree for you," he added. "The limbs are strong and sturdy, and you can hang a lot of heavy ornaments on it."

Bright thinks the Cadillac of Christmas trees is the Fraser fir, but the Hampton Roads climate is too warm for them to grow well. The closest Bright has to a Fraser fir is a Norway spruce, with its pretty, flowing branches.

"It has a graceful open shape," Bright noted.

Norway spruces also are hard to grow in Hampton Roads, he added. They are slow-growing and not very heat-tolerant, whether on his farm or in your house.

If you decide on a living tree, be aware that you should decorate it right before Christmas and take it down soon thereafter. They don't adapt to household heat.

"They will live, but they are temperamental, and you don't want them in the house very long," Bright said. "The longer they stay in the house, the lower their chance of survival."

Once you've decided on a tree variety, you'll have to pick one that's the right shape and size for hour home. Think of your ceiling height and where you are going to put your tree.

If you have a small home, look for a skinny tree. If you have plenty of room, look for a plump one. If you tree is going in a corner, you can buy one with a really pretty side and a sparse side.

"Some people want to put them in a corner and care only what one side looks like," Bright said. "I love those people!"

Also make sure you are picking a healthy-looking tree that is growing straight and tall, he said

, adding, "Look at the stem."

And look for a nice color - a pretty green.

"Lots of trees on lots are spray-painted," he said, "but we don't do that."

Once you've brought your tree home, water is crucial for its survival, not only at first but also throughout the holiday. Some people believe in sugar water, others in tree preservative solutions, he said. Bright uses plain water.

If you buy a tree from a lot, cut off the end of the tree when you get home and put it right in water, Bright said. If you cut down a tree at a farm, you don't need to cut off the bottom again at home if you put it in water right away.

"A fresh-cut tree will drink a gallon a day," he said. "It will slack up drinking in a week or so, but don't let it dry out."

Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net