COLORING CHRISTMAS TREES provides long-lasting, safe color for holiday decorators. Dave Moorhead, a UGA Extension Service forester said the tree needles absorb the color and stay green through the holidays. Though the needles stay green, it’s not a reliable indicator of freshness. Check the water level in the tree stand daily and add fresh water to keep the water level above the bottom of the tree trunk. (Photo courtesy the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)

Even shoppers who insist on a natural, live Christmas tree
almost always take
home an artificially colored tree. And in this case, what you
didn’t know won’t
hurt you, says a University of Georgia scientist.

“The pigment in the colorant is the same thing you find in
children’s crayons,”
said David Moorhead, an Extension Service forester
with the UGA D.B. Warnell School of Forest
Resources.

“There’s not a problem with the colorant in terms of its
being a toxic material,”
he said. “It’s a very safe product.”

Moorhead said farmers spray the colorant on some tree species
to help
them stay a rich, dark green. Many trees lose their color during
late fall
and may turn yellowish- or reddish-green. The spray-on pigment
keeps them
green for the holidays.

Tree farmers prepare their trees with colorant long before
the holiday
sales begin.

“We’ve found that gives the colorant on the tree time to
mellow out and look
more natural,” said Judy Brewer, who sprays trees on her
Liberty County farm
in early September.

Brewer said most shoppers at her family’s 25-acre choose-and-
cut farm prefer
the colorized trees. “Even if they say they want an unsprayed
tree,” she said,
“they can see the difference, and most of them change their
minds.”

Once farmers apply the colorant, it stays put, Moorhead
said. “The trees typically
are very well cared for in the field,” he said.

Applying the colorant early allows the color to dry
completely on the needles
and stay colorfast through the holiday season. The color won’t
come off on you,
your children, pets, gifts, ornaments or other decorations,
Moorhead said.

Brewer said the tree needles absorb the colorant and gain
some protection against
moisture loss. “It’s kind of like makeup for trees,” she
said. “It really beautifies
and protects them.”

The colorant, though, won’t keep the tree fresh through the
holidays. The trick
to doing that is to keep the tree stand filled with plenty of
water. Sugar,
bleach, aspirin or clear sodas can’t help the tree take up
water. Dry trees
are much less fire resistant, and just a spark can set them
ablaze.