Support Your Local Christmas Tree Farm

By National Christmas Tree Association
Published on November 1, 2007
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Heading to the woods to cut the Christmas tree has been part of that holiday’s tradition since at least the 1500s. Today, most folks don’t have access to their own woods, and cutting Christmas trees on public land is no longer considered good practice. But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for an artificial tree or make choosing a real one into a routine retail transaction. This year, why not head on down to your local Christmas tree farm with the kids and make a day of choosing just the right tree and harvesting it yourself?

Cutting your own Christmas tree at a local farm is good for the local economy, might inspire you to create your own little tree plantation and will provide you with the freshest holiday symbol possible. But, before you embark on that most cheerful of excursions, carefully evaluate your tree needs to avoid problems when you get it back home. The most important consideration is the tree’s size.

  • Measure the ceiling height in the room where the tree will be displayed. The trees in the field look small when the sky is the ceiling. Don’t overbuy.
  • Measure the width of the area of the room where the tree will be displayed. Most trees on tree farms are trimmed to an 80-percent taper. So a tree that’s 10 feet tall will be 8 feet wide at the bottom. A tree that will fit in the room vertically may be entirely too big horizontally.
  • What decorating theme will be used? Some species have more open foliage, stiffer branches or longer needles. Research the characteristics of the different species on the National Christmas Tree Association’s wWeb site, www.RealChristmasTrees.org, then find a farm near you that has the species you are looking for.
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