WASHINGTON, DC (Dec 10, 2009) – There’s plenty of time to bring home a living Christmas tree to decorate for the holidays according to AMERICAN FORESTS, the nation’s oldest conservation group, which suggests planting the tree to celebrate the New Year.
Living tree tip: Identify where you will plant the tree after the holiday, and dig the hole now so it’s easy to plant after being kept 7-10 days indoors. Get additional tree care details from your local nursery.
The National Christmas Tree was a gift
The National Christmas Tree, lit earlier this month by President Obama, is part of a tradition now 85 years old. The first National Christmas Tree was a gift to the nation from AMERICAN FORESTS, known then as the American Forestry Association. President and Mrs. Coolidge received the gift of a living 35-foot Norway spruce which was planted adjacent to the White House on the Ellipse in 1924.
Little known fact:Before the widespread establishment of farms to cultivate trees for Christmas, people cut trees from the wild, sometimes illegally and often to the detriment of forests. By transplanting a large tree for the White House to decorate year after year, AMERICAN FORESTS sought to promote tree and land conservation.
Our Christmas Tree Tradition
The custom of decorated Christmas trees in the United States dates to Williamsburg, Virginia and 1842. German immigrant Charles Minnegerode’s tree was described as being "splendidly decorated" with strings of popcorn, nuts, and lighted candles. By 1900, one in five American families decorated trees during Christmas and by 1930 the tree had become a nearly universal part of the American Christmas tradition.
Little known fact: The 25 to 30 million families bringing home cut trees this year are supplied by tree farmers who will plant as many as 56 million trees to replace them next spring. An increasing number of communities recycle Christmas trees into garden mulch.
Give a Gift of Trees
Every dollar plants a tree with AMERICAN FORESTS’ Global ReLeaf programs. Well over 25 million trees have been planted to restore damaged forest ecosystems around the world in the past 20 years. Many of the trees were planted as holiday gifts for family and friends. Trees give us cleaner air and water, provide shelter and nourishment for wildlife, and remove climate-changing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Let AMERICAN FORESTS plant some trees in the name of the people on your holiday gift list. Donate at www.americanforests.org and chose to have a personalized certificate emailed to you or directly to the recipient. Questions? Call 800/545-8733. The gift of trees is also a way to mark the New Year, birthdays and special events.
Print Article
E-mail Article