This is the most important step for keeping a Christmas tree alive. The very best way to ensure your tree is fresh is to cut your own from a local tree farm. “A cut-your-own tree guarantees freshness, and by going to a local farm, you know it’s going to be sustainable, so trees will be replanted, and it’ll be a selective harvest,” says Mark Derowitsch, a spokesman for the Arbor Day Foundation.

As the country winds down from the festive period, millions of households and businesses will be looking to take down their Christmas decorations – and in total dispose of eight million Christmas trees. According to the British Christmas Tree Growers Association, between six and eight million real Christmas trees are sold in the UK every year; A typical six to seven foot high Christmas tree is between 10 and 12 years old; Nordmann Firs are the most popular in homes, making up 80% of those sold, with Norway Spruce making up 10-15% Once you’ve selected your live tree, you’ll need to take care of it immediately to keep it alive. Tchukki Andersen, a staff arborist for the Tree Care Industry Association, suggests wrapping it in a plastic tarp to protect it on the journey home. If you bought a pre-cut tree, when you get it home, use a handsaw or chainsaw to make a fresh cut to remove about an inch or so of wood from the bottom of the trunk. Sky-high energy bills have meant a renewed focus on home usage but making your home look festive with fairy lights won’t add much to your bills. You should avoid decorations that use older lights with halogen and incandescent bulbs because they use a lot more energy but outdoor lights are often made using cheap-to-run LED lights.Blend the salt, sugar and spruce tips in a blender until the spruce is chopped up and mixed nicely with the salt and sugar. Pour half the mixture into a bowl or bag.

A household with a string of 200 LED lights using 6W power could expect to increase their bills by 27p if used for six hours a day for 22 days over the whole festive period, based on current electricity prices, according to Uswitch calculations. Battery-powered lights are another good option, especially if you already have a stash of batteries at home. You can always turn off other lights in the room and enjoy the glow. There are a few simple steps to help keep your Christmas tree alive for longer, and ensure your tannenbaum doesn’t become a tannen-bummer. (A tannenbaum, by the way, is a fir tree.) For a delicately flavoured roast, place two or three decent sized branches under the joint as it roasts to impart flavour to the lamb.Local authorities often arrange drop-off points or special collections of trees in early January and advertise the dates this will take place Where you choose to shop is not always about price, and stores such as Waitrose pride themselves on their ethical and taste credentials, which are harder to compare. However, this year more than most, it may be the overriding factor. Millions of families around the UK celebrated Christmas with a beautiful Fir or Spruce tree in their home, but when the decorations are taken down, it’s important that we dispose of trees sustainably.

At Christmas time, many of us get carried away, with cheese, biscuits, chocolate, alcohol and vegetables the foods people often buy too much of. If you are broke but still hosting this year, why not discuss sharing the shopping costs or ask guests to contribute something to the meal.Rub the squeezed lime around the rim of the glass and sprinkle with salt, or put salt on a plate and put the glass into it rim side down. Fir trees often have a classic Christmas tree shape: their branches are dense and slightly upturned. The needles are short, soft, flat, and have a rounded edge and they connect to the stem by suction cup-like attachments. Put the spruce shoot, or douglas fir, in a blender with 750ml tequila and blend until the liquid turns a nice light green. Pass the liquid through a cloth or muslin to remove any hard bits of tree. Add the salmon fillets and pour the rest of the spruce mix on top and turn the fish to ensure it is coated with the mixture. Pine needles are long, pointed, and small clusters of needles will come from a single point on the stem. Pine cones are hard and woody with larger scales than spruce. The clusters of male cones produce vast amounts of pollen on lower branches in spring.