Annual Christmas Tree Recycling - January 9th

The Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) is coordinating their annual tree recycling event in conjunction with Henderson County Parks and Recreation. Residents are encouraged to drop off their trees at Field 6 in Jackson Park. Hendersonville city residents may leave their trees at curbside, where they will be gathered and included in the recycling project.

Be sure to remove all lights and decorations before dropping your trees at the park. No wreaths, balled trees or greenery with wire will be accepted. Christmas trees will be chipped to make mulch on Jan. 9 at Jackson Park. Mulch created from the chipping will be given away free of charge, so bring a bag if you’re interested in taking some home.

Call the ECO office at 692-0385 for more information.

Bring the Outside Inside for the Holidays

Many different kinds of greenery can be used for holiday decorations. Pines, firs and cedars are good to use for indoor decoration since they dry out slowly and hold their needles best at warm interior temperatures. They may last for several weeks if properly treated and cared for. Hemlock, spruces and most broadleaf evergreens will last longer if used outdoors.

Below are some suggested varieties to use in holiday decorating.

White Pine: This soft, bluish-green, long-needled pine has excellent needle retention but wilts visibly if dry.

Virginia Pine: This native pine has shorter, coarser needles, and is long-lasting, with excellent needle retention.

Junipers: Fragrant, short, green or silver-blue foliage that may be adorned with small blue berries. The needles are often sticky.

Firs: All firs have wonderful scent and good tolerance of hot, dry indoor conditions. The needles are short and flat with excellent color and needle retention. Fraser fir wreaths and swags are commonly available from commercial sources.

Spruce: Wreaths are the main use for spruce greens. The branches are stiff with short, sharp needles. Blue spruce is especially attractive because of its color, and it holds its needles better than other spruce. Needle retention is poorer on spruce than on other conifer greens.

Ivy: This vigorous vine is readily available in many yards. It makes an excellent green for holiday arrangements. The cut ends must be kept in water, or the ivy will quickly wilt.

Holly: This most traditional holiday green comes in several forms, both green and variegated. Female plants display bright red berries. Make sure that holly does not freeze after cutting, or the leaves and berries may blacken.

Mountain Laurel: This is a traditional evergreen in the South for wreaths and garlands. As with other broad-leaved evergreens, however, laurel holds up best when used outdoors.

Magnolia: The large leaves are a glossy, dark green that contrast well with the velvety, brown undersides. Magnolia leaves make stunning wreaths and bases for large decorations. The leaves hold up very well even without water.

Some other excellent evergreens that can be used for holiday greenery include:

* Arborvitae
* Ligustrum
* Pittosporum
* Podocarpus
* Viburnum
* Leyland Cypress
* Nandina
* Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)
* Hemlock

However you choose to decorate this holiday season, be safe and have a Merry Christmas.

Parts taken from Decorating with Holiday Greenery, Clemson Cooperative Extension

The Bullington Center has beautiful amaryllis with lily-like flowers for you to purchase this Holiday Season. The amaryllis makes a great gift for friends and loved-ones.

When used as a potted plant for a special occasion, the amaryllis provides spectacular flower colors and effects. They come in a wide range of flower colors from red, pink and white to combinations of these.

The bulbs for sale at the Bullington Center are red and a nice shade of pink. When properly handled and cared for properly, an amaryllis bulb may produce flowers for up to 75 years. Good quality bulbs of named varieties may produce up to six flowers on a single stalk.

The bulbs will be for sale at Bullington through December 18th. For more information, call 698-6104.

Advantages of Real Christmas Trees

This morning I walked into the Extension office to the aroma of a freshly cut Christmas tree, selected from a local grower. This year our commercial agent selected a Concolor Fir, Abies concolor. This hard to find attractive tree has needles that are longer and spaced further apart than those on the Fraser Fir. Michael Dirr calls this tree the most handsome of all firs. Which ever tree you choose this Holiday Season, just remember this list of reasons to buy local and living trees.

- Real Christmas trees are plantation grown on American family farms, making an important economic contribution to many rural communities in the United States.
- Real Christmas trees absorb carbon dioxide and other harmful “greenhouse” gases and release fresh oxygen into the air.
- A Real Christmas tree has a fragrance beyond compare.
- One acre of Christmas trees provides the daily oxygen requirement for 18 people.
- Real Christmas trees are an all-American renewable, recyclable resource. After the holidays, Real trees are chipped into biodegradable mulch, which replenishes soil in landscapes, parks, and schools.
- Real Christmas trees can be used as a feeding station and winter shelter for songbirds in your yard.
- The safest Christmas tree is a fresh, well-watered tree. A Real tree has never started a fire. Faulty Christmas lights, candles, and fireplaces can start tree fires.

Recycle Your Christmas Tree

The Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) is coordinating their annual tree recycling event in conjunction with Henderson County Parks and Recreation. Residents are encouraged to drop off their trees at a designated site in Jackson Park near the covered picnic area. Hendersonville city residents may leave their trees at curbside, where they will be gathered and included in the recycling project.

Be sure to remove all lights and decorations before dropping your trees at the park. No wreaths, balled trees or greenery with wire will be accepted. Christmas trees will be chipped to make mulch on Jan. 10 at Jackson Park. Mulch created from the chipping will be given away free of charge, so bring a bag if you’re interested in taking some home.

Call the ECO office at 692-0385 for more information.

Vote for The Bullington Christmas Tree

Henderson County Master Gardeners have been working hard on creating handmade ornaments for the annual Holiday Tree contest at the Asheville Airport. This year their theme is "The Wise Owl Learning Tree". The decorated tree is on display through the end of December. All of the ornaments are made entirely out of natural plant parts from their gardeners within the mountains of North Carolina.

See the picture above for an extraordinary example of their creativity. This Owl is named Frederick Law Olmstead, the father of landscape architecture. The prize money awarded will go to the charity of choice, which is the Bullington Horticulture Learning Center. Please go to www.flyavl.com then click on holiday contest and vote for tree number 7; the tree with the most votes wins.

Christmas Tree Recycling

The Environmental and Conservation Organization (ECO) is coordinating their annual tree recycling event in conjunction with Henderson County Parks and Recreation. Residents are encouraged to drop off their trees at a designated site in Jackson Park near the covered picnic area. Hendersonville city residents may leave their trees at curbside, where they will be gathered and included in the recycling project.

Be sure to remove all lights and decorations before dropping your trees at the park. No wreaths, balled trees or greenery with wire will be accepted. Christmas trees will be chipped to make mulch from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Jan. 5 at Jackson Park. Mulch created from the chipping will be given away free of charge, so bring a bag if you’re interested in taking some home.

Call the ECO office at 692-0385 for more information.

Poinsettia Care

Around this time of year I receive many calls about caring for newly purchased poinsettias. This information from the NCSU Department of Horticulture Science should help to answer some of those questions. For additional information, please feel free to contact me.

The poinsettia that you bought or received for Christmas should retain its beauty for many weeks if you take proper care of it. Horticulturists have done an excellent job of breeding new poinsettia varieties with long-lasting qualities. Here is what you should do to extend the beauty of your poinsettias:

Place your poinsettia in the sunniest portion of the room. It needs a minimum of 75 foot candles of natural or artificial light.

Avoid cold drafts from doorways or excess heat from television sets, radiators or heating ducts. Water your plant thoroughly when needed. Make sure a small amount of the water that is applied drips through the drainage holes of the container. If your poinsettia came wrapped with decorative foil, punch a hole in the foil beneath the pot to allow excess water to escape. Place the plant on a saucer to prevent damage to furniture.

To retain the bright color of the bracts, keep your poinsettia at temperatures not exceeding 70 degrees F. The temperatures should not dip below 50 degrees F.

If you are going to try to keep your poinsettia for a couple of months, you should fertilize it with a dilute fertilizer solution. Use a soluble, complete fertilizer, such as 20-10-20, twice each month.

Contrary to frequent reports, the bracts and foliage of poinsettias are not poisonous. So enjoy your poinsettias.

Advantages of Real Trees

Did you ever think that by using a live Christmas tree in your house that you were actually helping the environment? Real trees help the environment from the time they are planted until after the holiday season when they can be recycled.

While they are growing, Christmas trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases while giving off fresh oxygen. Every acre of Christmas trees planted gives off enough oxygen to meet the needs of 18 people. Today in America there are enough Christmas trees planted that 18 million people a day are supplied with oxygen. Also, the farms that grow Christmas trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies, and provide a refuge for wildlife while creating a nice scenic view. Often, Christmas trees are grown on soil that will not support any other crops. And when one Christmas tree is cut down, one or two are replanted in its place.
Artificial trees are made from oil-based products that use up our natural resources. They are also not recyclable and will remain in land-fills for centuries after disposal.
Real Christmas trees, on the other hand, are recyclable. The branches and trunk are biodegradable and can be made into mulch for the garden. A Christmas tree placed in the back yard will make a nice bird feeder and the birds can also use the trees branches for shelter during the winter winds. Large quantities of trees make effective barriers on beaches to prevent soil erosion. Sunk into ponds, the trees will also make an excellent refuge and feeding area for fish.

Keeping Your Christmas Tree Fresh

Before setting out to purchase your perfect Christmas tree, determine where in the home the tree will be located, the size required, and whether all sides will be displayed. Other characteristics such as tree density, color, and fragrance should also be considered. Next, determine whether a cut tree or one "balled and burlapped" is to be purchased, or if a visit to a "choose and cut " farm is preferred.

Once a tree is purchased, keeping it fresh requires watering on a regular basis and avoiding high temperatures. If the tree is bought several days before it is to be decorated, it should be stored outside in a cool, shaded area. The base should be sawed on a diagonal about one inch above the original cut, and the base placed in a container of water. Sprinkling or misting the tree with water will also help retain freshness, but the tree should not be soaked.

Whether stored or not, before bringing the tree in the house, a square cut should be sawed on the base. The base of the tree should be kept in water throughout entire period that the tree is in use. The water level in the stand should be checked daily. Research has indicated that water additives are not needed and may even result in excessive drying.

The tree should be well supported and placed away from sources of heat. Tree lights should not be left on unless someone is at home, and should be turned off when the family goes to bed. Electrical cords should also be checked for any signs of damage or wear. Trees do not cause fires but will support combustion when dry. Dry trees should be removed before they create a fire hazard.