Do We Sell Christmas Trees...No...Maybe?

With Christmas approaching we get asked the question, "Do you sell Christmas Trees?", quite a bit. The simple answer is no, we do not have trees that you can come in and cut down for a Christmas tree. However, last year we had an interesting request from a customer, she and her husband wanted to take a live tree home and keep it over Christmas and plant it in the spring. We were quite skeptical of this endeavor, but we saw it through and they purchased a 6' Austrian Pine. Recently they came back to the farm and gave us this update.

​​Christmas Tree Saver, chose a LIVE tree and plant it in the Spring.
 
My husband and I generally purchase a cut Christmas tree from a local tree farm, but grew tired of throwing away money at the end of the season, and the tree that had grown for several years. After researching and talking to local gardening guru’s, we decided to try a live tree and plant it the following spring.
 
We chose Bentley Ridge Tree Farm to purchase our “Christmas Tree” in 2015 for the first time. The farm had already closed for the season, by mid-November, but we were welcomed to come out for an appointment to pick something. Our Austrian Pine was a bit wild looking but that suited our needs. My husband is handy in all things, so he fabricated a 22-inch diameter steel container with hand hold slots, to keep our tree in its root bag before being planted a few months later. Other individuals could use a “Multi-Purpose Steel Utility Tub” found at home improvement stores.
 
After bringing our tree home mid-November, we placed our 6’ pine in our garage until after Thanksgiving. Getting it in our house was a bit interesting, but once in the front door we used a heavy drop cloth to slide it across the floor, instead of picking it up. The tree was decorated with lights and ornaments and watered well to keep it happy. I did need to purchase an extra-large tree skirt to fit the height of the container holding the tree. The tree skirt allowed gifts to be placed on the skirt at the base of the tree. Regular tree skirts fit but wouldn’t allow much fabric on the floor. We watered the tree about every other day, but checked it daily to make sure it wasn’t dry or oversaturated.
 
Once Christmas was over, and decorations put away, we moved the tree back to the garage until the end of February. When the weather was mid-30’s to 40’s most of the time we transitioned our tree to sit outside the garage. After the ground had thawed in April we planted the Pine and watered it well. The Austrian Pine has done well all Summer and Fall. We recently picked out our Christmas tree at Bentley Ridge for a second year. This time choosing a Colorado Blue Spruce. We will let you know how that one fares as well as an update to the 2015 Austrian Pine. 

So, the question of whether or not we sell Christmas trees might have a more complicated answer than we originally thought!

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!