How to Put Up a Real Christmas Tree
Putting up a real Christmas tree is not hard, but the order you do things in matters. Get it wrong and you end up with a leaning tree, tangled lights, and needles all over the floor by the second week.
This is how to do it properly, from the tree arriving in its netting to the star going on top.
Before you start
Get these ready first. Stopping halfway through to hunt for a saw is how trees end up crooked.
You want a Christmas tree stand with a water reservoir, a handsaw, an old sheet or a tree skirt, gloves, secateurs, a jug, and a second pair of hands. The second pair of hands is not optional. One person holds, one person looks.
Test your lights before anything else. Plug them in while they are still in the box. Finding a dead string after it is wound through the branches is a special kind of misery.
Step 1: Pick the spot
Choose where the tree goes before you unwrap it, because once it is up you are not moving it.
Keep it away from radiators, wood burners and sunny windows. Heat is what kills a Christmas tree. It pulls moisture out of the needles faster than the trunk can replace it, and a tree next to a radiator will drop weeks early. A cool corner will buy you a fortnight for free.
If the only place it fits is above a radiator, turn that radiator off for December.
Check the height while you are at it. Measure your ceiling and take off a foot. The stand lifts the trunk and the star needs room on top. A 7ft tree in a 7ft room does not fit.
Step 2: Cut an inch off the trunk
This is the step everyone skips, and it is the one that decides whether your tree survives.
Saw a full inch off the bottom of the trunk, straight across, not at an angle. Do it outside, and do it immediately before the tree goes into water.
Why it matters. Sap seals across the cut end of the trunk within hours of the tree being harvested. Once sealed, the tree cannot take up water, no matter how full the stand is. The fresh cut reopens it. Without this, your tree is drinking nothing and it will drop no matter what else you do.
Do not cut a V shape or drill a hole in the base. Neither helps. A flat cut across the trunk is all it needs.
Step 3: Get it in the stand and into water
Straight from the saw into the stand. The clock is running, because the cut starts sealing again within a couple of hours.
Lay your sheet or tree skirt down first. Sit the stand on it. Then bring the tree in, still netted, and stand it up while someone holds it steady.
Tighten the bolts against the trunk a little at a time, working around the stand rather than driving one bolt fully home. Have your second person stand back and tell you which way it leans. Trees lean. Trust the person across the room, not your own eye at the base of it.
Then fill the reservoir. Plain tap water. Nothing else. A fresh tree can drink two litres on its first day indoors.
Step 4: Cut the netting and let it settle
Cut the netting from the bottom upwards. The branches spring out as you go, and cutting from the base lets them open in order instead of all at once.
Now leave it alone. Give the tree a few hours, ideally overnight, before you decorate. The branches have been compressed in a net and they need time to drop into their natural position. Decorate a tree straight out of the net and you will find gaps appearing the next morning where the branches have settled.
This is the hardest instruction to follow and the one that most improves the result.
Step 5: Lights first, always
Lights before baubles. Every time. You cannot thread lights through a decorated tree without knocking half the ornaments off.
How many lights?
About 100 lights per foot of tree. A 6ft tree wants roughly 600. Most people badly under-light their tree and then wonder why it looks flat.
Work from the inside out
Start at the trunk, not the tips. Take the string in towards the middle of the tree, then out along a branch, then back in towards the trunk again. Weaving in and out like this puts light deep inside the tree, which gives it depth and makes it glow rather than look like a lit outline.
Wrapping lights around the outside of the tree like a barber's pole is the most common mistake. It looks flat and it shows the wire.
Start at the top or the plug?
Start at the end nearest the socket and work up, so you do not reach the top and discover you have run out of cable in the wrong direction.
Step 6: Decorate
Ribbon or garland next if you are using it, then baubles.
Hang the heaviest ornaments close to the trunk where the branches are strongest, and the lightest ones out at the tips. A Nordmann Fir has strong, well-spaced branches that carry heavy glass without sagging, which is one reason it is the most popular tree in Britain.
Stand back often. Every few minutes, walk to the far side of the room and look. Clusters and gaps are invisible from arm's length and obvious from six feet away.
Fill the inside, not just the surface. A few baubles hung deeper in the tree, near the trunk, create shadow and depth. A tree decorated only on its outer tips looks like a hedge.
Star or angel last, once everything else is settled.
Step 7: Water it every single day
This is not part of putting the tree up. It is the thing that keeps it alive, and it starts the moment the tree is standing.
Check the reservoir daily. If it runs dry, even once, the trunk seals over and the tree stops drinking for good. There is no fixing that without taking everything off and cutting the trunk again, and nobody does that three days before Christmas.
More on this in our guide to stopping needle drop.
Common mistakes
Not cutting the trunk. The tree cannot drink and it dies quietly while looking fine for a week.
Decorating straight out of the netting. The branches settle overnight and leave gaps.
Too few lights. Under-lighting makes an expensive tree look cheap.
Lights wrapped round the outside. Flat, and the wire shows.
Putting the tree next to a radiator. The fastest way to a bare tree by mid December.
Letting the water run out. The one unrecoverable error.
How to put up a Christmas tree: FAQs
Do I really need to cut the bottom of the trunk?
Yes. It is the most important step. The sealed cut end stops the tree drinking, and a fresh flat cut reopens it.
How long should I wait before decorating?
A few hours at least, overnight if you can. The branches need to drop after being netted.
How many lights do I need?
Around 100 per foot. A 6ft tree needs about 600.
Should I put lights or baubles on first?
Lights first, always. Threading lights through a decorated tree knocks the ornaments off.
What can I put in the water?
Nothing. Plain tap water. Sugar, aspirin and lemonade do not help and can clog the trunk.
Which way up do I cut the netting?
From the bottom upwards, so the branches release in order.
Read our complete guide to real Christmas trees, or choose your tree and pick a delivery date. Delivery is free.