Pick, Care for the Perfect Christmas Tree

How to pick out the best tree for your home, preference and price point.

With so many Christmas tree options, picking out one can sometimes make you feel like you're in "A Charlie Brown Christmas." Any given tree can either be too short, too tall, too bald, too bushy or have a myriad of other problems. So how can you tell which tree is the right one for you? To help select your favorite tree, the characteristics of the more popular species are listed below. Douglas-fir: This tree is generally available as a sheared tree and is the most common species found on tree lots. It has a nice fragrance and a medium-to-good shelf life. Because of the thick, bushy crowns, they do not lend themselves to large or heavy decorations.  This species is the easiest to grow because it is relatively problem-free. It requires seven…

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The Brunette Lucy

Getting Ready for Christmas

Lucy remembers Christmas traditions with her family as she also says goodbye to Patch.

I hand it to all of you who venture out into the world on Black Friday. The day after Thanksgiving, I can barely rouse myself out of bed due to the turkey, stuffing and pie-induced coma I’m in. So to anyone who managed to get up early (or who camped out before the stores opened) to battle the throngs of bargain seekers, I salute you. For me, one of the best things about the holiday is that it marks the beginning of the Christmas season. Obviously, Black Friday shoppers feel the same way. The tree goes up that weekend, and I’ll watch every sappy Christmas movie ever made – twice – while I decorate and bake. The kids usually take bets on how long it’ll be before I start to cry, and then spy on me until a winner is proclaimed. But the most …

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