Xref: 127.0.0.1 alt.home.lawn.garden:6490 rec.gardens:435486

The Christmas tree you'll soon be buying is at the end of its long
journey. Having grown up in Oregon, it is harvested and placed on a
flat bed truck for its cross country journey. Once every few stops, the
trees are watered down to keep them moist and fresh.
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Just make sure that the beautiful Tannenbaum you invite into your living
room doesn't make your allergies worse! Although an artificial tree is
best (if you rinse off the attic dust!), here's some tips if you decide
to go with a real tree:
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That continual watering promotes mold growth. Make sure to spray your
tree with a garden hose before bringing it inside. This also helps
rinse the pollen off the tree. Although pine trees aren't a major
source of tree pollen, they can trigger hay fever if you get a big dose
of the powder right in your face. Rinsing the tree off, plus using your
allergy medicines before you enjoy trimming the tree, may prevent your
Christmas-time allergy. Speaking of trimming the tree, your ornaments
may have spent the off-season in the attic with dust mites and mold. =

Carefully clean them off in a well-ventilated area. After Christmas,
pack the ornaments carefully in sealed plastic bags to make next year's
job a bit easier.
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Keep the living room well-ventilated. The aromatic resins that impart
the pine scent can act as non-allergic irritants. Our Texas Aggie
buddies suggest the Leyland Cypress tree since, as a true hybrid, it
cannot produce pollen. Fewer resins on the Leyland Cypress mean fewer
odors. http://agnet.tamu.edu/stories/leyland.html
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Along with cheerful holiday gatherings come colds and flu. How does
your doctor keep from getting all those bugs? We wash our hands with
hot soapy water about 753 times a day. Careful hand washing can prevent
transmission of respiratory viruses.
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Stay well and Happy Holidays from The Allergy Clinic, your allergy and
asthma specialists!

Republished by Celestial Habitats
J. Kolenovsky



TheKeith wrote:
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Hi, I just picked up a Christmas tree from Home depot--a Balsam Fir to =
be
exact. I was just wondering how to tell if the tree is fresh? We did no=
tice
a decent amount of needles that fell to the floor of the truck on the w=
ay
home, but I'm not sure if this is normal or not? Can someone tell me wh=
at to
look for, so that I'll know whether or not to return the tree? Thanks.

-- =

Celestial Habitats by J. Kolenovsky
2003 Honorable Mention Award, Keep Houston Beautiful
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business
=F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal