From the Daily News:
“My feeling is the Fraser fir in the best route to go. It’s got 30 branches, it’s highly scented, and there’s no reason it shouldn’t last until Jan. 10,” said Tom Foley, who runs tree stands in Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn.
The base of the tree should be cut right before you take it home, and then plunged into water when you get there.
Foley recommends customers soak the trunk in hot water with a few tablespoons of sugar for three days, then keep it in lukewarm water. Some stores sell life-lengthening powders you can mix in the water.
Hot, dry air can turn a healthy tree into kindling — and apartment radiators are a major culprit. Foley tells his customers to put a big pot of water on the radiator to keep air moist.
Another hint: Don’t carry the tree through the doorway top-first. The branches slope upward, so take it in base-first and they won’t break off.
The tannenbaum doesn’t have to break the bank, either.
While some of the more majestic specimens sell for hundreds of dollars in Manhattan, Foley said it pays to bargain hunt.
“A fair price is $10 a foot,” said the former stock broker, who donates some proceeds from his sales to public schools and afterschool programs