Christmas tree selection guide
A fresh tree should smell strongly of pine when you brush the needles, and the needles themselves should bend without snapping cleanly — a dry, brittle needle means the tree was cut too long ago.
Give the trunk a light bounce on the ground: a healthy tree loses only a few interior needles, not entire branches. Check the trunk is straight enough to sit level in your stand, and leave an inch or two of clearance for height once it's up and lit.
Once home, cut an inch off the base before it goes in water, and keep the stand topped up daily — a tree can drink several liters in its first day alone.
