![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Dec. 6th, 2008
Tree: accomplished
Dec. 6th, 2008 06:54 pmThe tree is now in place. In the dining room. It's a good thing the poll wasn't determinate democracy in action because I'm not entirely sure how "clicky" maps onto the geography of my house. (And it occurred to me belatedly that the bedroom option should have read, "The bedroom, because it has the 11-foot ceilings that would do proper justice to a redwood's majesty ... even though I'd have to move the bed somewhere else."
Free-range redwoods don't actually make optimal xmas trees, when it comes down to it. Their growth is rangy and spindly -- the top and branch-ends are long, bare, and a bit too floppy to hold up substantial ornaments. I try to remember to prune and shape them every couple of years or so, but mostly I end up doing a lot of post-harvest shaping. The oldest trunk -- the one marked for culling -- is doubled from about the 3-foot level up. Well, originally from about the 5-foot level. I left a couple feet of stump to be dealt with later because the thing was way too tall to use all of. At that, I had to trim about a 5-foot piece off the top and trimmed all the older branches back to last year's growth (the part sturdy enough to support weight), which made the overall size manageable. In shape it's a bit more cylindrical than conical. I set it up so that the top goes up into the skylight a little (other wise I would have had to trim some more when I tried to set it up). Combined with the shape, this gives the overall impression of the tree growing up through the roof.
The lights and main ornaments are in place, the latter consisting of the older items (like the red-flocked glass ball with the green "jewels" that I got back in '75), the family items (like a collection of home-made German "straw stars" the wire-on mushrooms), the "harp theme" ornaments, and an assortment of archaic-looking molded-glass items (my favorite being a red rosebud that serves as the next best thing to a tree-topper). I'll contemplate adding more from the second-tier set (a collection of plain green and silver balls, an assortment of loaner items from the downstairs tenant who has more ornaments than can ever fit one tree, various gift ornaments of questionable esthetic value). I always like the concept of edible ornaments: candy canes, gingerbread, popcorn strings. But they just aren't practical for various reasons.
Free-range redwoods don't actually make optimal xmas trees, when it comes down to it. Their growth is rangy and spindly -- the top and branch-ends are long, bare, and a bit too floppy to hold up substantial ornaments. I try to remember to prune and shape them every couple of years or so, but mostly I end up doing a lot of post-harvest shaping. The oldest trunk -- the one marked for culling -- is doubled from about the 3-foot level up. Well, originally from about the 5-foot level. I left a couple feet of stump to be dealt with later because the thing was way too tall to use all of. At that, I had to trim about a 5-foot piece off the top and trimmed all the older branches back to last year's growth (the part sturdy enough to support weight), which made the overall size manageable. In shape it's a bit more cylindrical than conical. I set it up so that the top goes up into the skylight a little (other wise I would have had to trim some more when I tried to set it up). Combined with the shape, this gives the overall impression of the tree growing up through the roof.
The lights and main ornaments are in place, the latter consisting of the older items (like the red-flocked glass ball with the green "jewels" that I got back in '75), the family items (like a collection of home-made German "straw stars" the wire-on mushrooms), the "harp theme" ornaments, and an assortment of archaic-looking molded-glass items (my favorite being a red rosebud that serves as the next best thing to a tree-topper). I'll contemplate adding more from the second-tier set (a collection of plain green and silver balls, an assortment of loaner items from the downstairs tenant who has more ornaments than can ever fit one tree, various gift ornaments of questionable esthetic value). I always like the concept of edible ornaments: candy canes, gingerbread, popcorn strings. But they just aren't practical for various reasons.