Christmas tree farm offers tips on maintaining live pine

PINE BELT, Miss. (WDAM) - Trees are shaking at Thomley’s Christmas Trees, and that means the season of giving is upon us.

For the past 50 years, the Thomley family has welcomed those is search of a live Christmas tree

“We’ve operated a Christmas tree farm since 1967, and this has just been ,….” said owner Jeremy Thomley. “Christmas just gets wilder and wilder.”

While live trees can offer a beautiful, natural aesthetic, their maintenance can be enough to drain the Christmas spirit.

“There’s a lot of urban legends out there about what to put in your Christmas tree to make it last longer,” Thomley said

“There’s a lot of urban legends about what to put in your Christmas tree to make it last longer.”

Thomley said he’s had customers add soda instead of water in order to help trees from drying out.

Flocking is an alternative that eliminates the need for water altogether

“When we flock a tree, we are spraying it with this stuff that is kind of like insulation, but it doesn’t have fiber glass,” Thomley said. “So, it’s not itchy. It is soft; kind of like snow.

“And it makes the tree an artificial tree, so it doesn’t have to be watered any more. So, if you’ve got animals that are drinking all of the water out of a live tree, that can be a problem. But a flocked tree doesn’t need any water.”

While the flocking material is flame-retardant, Thomley urges customers to be mindful of the temperature inside their homes.

“I’d say the trick is, though, don’t put it in front of a heating vent in the house,” THomley said. “And if you keep your house super hot, that can kind of be a problem for live Christmas trees. You’ll just have to add more water.”

Flocking or no flocking, if a live tree is in the plans for this holiday season, tips like these can help the tree and the family have a Merry Christmas.

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