Want to keep that real Christmas tree fresh all through the holiday season? Gary Crawford has advice from an expert.

PARTICIPANTS: Gary Crawford and tree expert, Josh. (Last name withheld by request)

Transcript

At the Christmas tree farm that I go to here in Northern Virginia, Evergreen Acres, I always interview the owner, Jim Gelson, and customers and the people working here.

Now, here's a guy only in your fifth year helping out here at the farm.

But I'm so good you would think I was born here.

Ah, the ever humble Josh, last name withheld by request to keep the fan mail down, right?

Right.

Right, but you do help a lot of people who come to the farm here.

I've been finding that there's a lot more families, it seems, coming out this year who have never gone to a tree farm before and cut down their own tree.

I bet you do get quite a few questions.

Tons of questions.

And besides where are the bathrooms, what are some of the questions that people ask?

Where do I find the trees?

But you can see...

Yeah, it's a strange question being there's a field... yeah.

Besides that, probably which one I recommend, but it's definitely a personal preference.

Some people want the short needle.

Usually once I tell them that the short-needled spruce is going to drop its needles first, you cut them now, by the end of December they're going to start shedding good.

They steer the other way and go for the white pine because they hold the needles longer.

I'll let my listeners know that when Josh says cut them now, we're taping this interview Thanksgiving weekend.

But at any rate, you wouldn't think that you would have any needle drop problems by cutting a tree fresh off the farm here, but you can.

And there is nothing worse than being awakened in the night by the sound of a needle dropping.

It's very annoying, isn't it?

Right.

And it doesn't have to do with the quality of the tree.

It's just the tree itself.

You know, they shed needles quickly.

Yep, the white pines, they'll hold them for two months before they'll start dropping needles.

Now, you say a lot of the problems that we have are because we don't pay attention to watering those trees?

Definitely keep them watered.

A lot of people, you know, they don't... they got to water it every day.

I would say the first week or so is critical also because it's going to take in a lot of water.

Even if it's cut fresh right here at the farm?

Yes.

You know, people don't understand how much water they're taking out of that ground.

They take a lot of water.

So keeping the water full.

See, once you let that water level get down below the bottom of the tree, it'll start to sap over.

So then you think, "Oh, we didn't water it for two days.

We'll just fill it up now."

Well, it's done sapped over, so now it's not going to take water as well.

Sapped over means it seals the...

Yes, it's going to seal itself off.

So you want to make sure you keep it full of water at all times so it'll last... you know, you get the time out of it.

Oh, our time's almost out, but Josh, you were telling me you don't get paid for helping out here, at least not in the usual money sense.

So what is your pay?

I get to hunt.

I deer hunt.

That's part of the deal.

I help and volunteer just so I can have some hunting rights.

And it's good for the tree farm because he loses a lot of trees to the deer every year.

A lot of trees.

So it helps me and it helps Jim.

That's great.

So Josh, we'll see you back here next year.

Yep.

All right.

This is Gary Crawford reporting from Evergreen Acres in Oaksville, Virginia, for the U.S.

Department of Agriculture.

Josh, where are the trees?