Christmas trees. Cut em or buy em?

[Cruiser]

Now that Thanksgiving is in the books imma go in the woods and cut a couple trees this morning once it warms up a bit. Seems like every third or fourth car had a tree on the roof on 285 yesterday. Quite a few of them were longer than the car they were on. Those folks must have high ceilings.

No shame in buying a Costco tree but I think they're up to like $100 this year.

So, are you cutting or buying this year?

[BmillsSkier]

Buying live cause Frazier Firs don’t grow on tree farms here unless I’m willing to drive up to NC where they do.

[JimmyCarter]

Been rocking an artificial tree for the past few years and couldn’t be happier. No needles, no stuffy nose/allergies, no sap all over the place, no water to refill, comes with lights included. And with real trees around here hitting $100+ at some places, it pays for itself in a few years.

Blah blah blah soul blah blah. Light a scented candle and you wouldn’t know the difference.

[Mustonen]

One of my requirements for our home when we were buying this one was a living room with a high ceiling so we could get a hudge Christmas tree. I ended up compromising on that one, sadly, but we did get a place with a hudge backyard and more 6-8 ft fir and spruce and white pine than we could ever want. Though this year I might try to convince the family that we should harvest a jack pine.

This plays in to a general goal to clear the area in sight of the house enough to walk around and see a little bit further, letting it gradually thicken into the tall dense forest at the perimeter.

[skiballs]

Got lazy and didn’t feel like dealing with the potential shit show in the hills, $75 at Whole Foods for a pretty nice 7’ tree.


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[Bunion 2020]

I don't do an indoor Christmas tree. IMO it is a waste.

I have a 16' Fir in the yard that is close enough to power to light it up. That and a few ornaments around the place are good enough.

[schindlerpiste]

Best of both worlds: Buy a balled living tree. Keep it outside until the 23 or 24th. Bring it in until after Christmas. Then, return it outside, cover it with burlap and plant it in the spring.

[Cisco Kid]

Cutting a tree at a tree farm was a good family thing to do when the kids were little. Times change and now it's a 6 foot, 5 y o artificial that makes my life easy.

[petey_]

Local hunting and fishing club brings in freshly cut trees every year. Tradition here is to get a fresh one every year. Tree farms are akin to growing broccoli if truth be told. Not saving the planet if I buy a fake plastic tree.

[Cisco Kid]

That's nice. Having a family tradition.

[TBS]

Local hunting and fishing club brings in freshly cut trees every year. Tradition here is to get a fresh one every year. Tree farms are akin to growing broccoli if truth be told. Not saving the planet if I buy a fake plastic tree.

You’re not saving the planet by cutting a fresh tree in December then burning or mulching it in January

And Christmas tree farms (in OR anyway) harvest on an 8-12 yr cycle, in terrain unsuitable for annual crops like broccoli

[donutlynx]

$5 permit. Will cut a freshie and help keep the roadside clear of advanced reprod on federal lands. Plus my wife loves going out and finding the "perfect" tree each year...

[SumJongGuy]

Every year we get our tree from a local non profit treatment and recovery center business that employs the people in rehab there at the tree lots and other year round jobs. I know folks who went through the program, some stayed clean, some didn't.

I paid $125 (rounded up) for a 7=8 footer tagged at $118

https://trosainc.org/

Also a fan of supporting scouting and other stuff where we can see the money we give put to good use.

Before we went this year I mentioned that I'll be headed up to the mountains to ski next week and could pick up a really nice tree on the cheap coming back. But, I go solo. We agreed it's much better to go and pick out the tree together as a family.. and pay a premium to support people in recovery..

All done, just add water..



January the dead tree goes to a big cat rescue or goats or other animal place where it will be eaten/returned to the earth..

[Mustonen]

Nobody liked my Jack pine selection. This one needs some trimming and some trimming but should do just fine.

[Name Redacted]

A little plastic one came with our house years ago. Sometimes my wife sets it up. I'm pretty anti-christmas myself though.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

They planted some real nice firs around the new airport parking lot, so I might poach one this year.

[J. Barron DeJong]

10 bucks for a permit to cut down a tree up to 20’ tall in the Tahoe Forrest (designated areas):



A little short this year, only about 16’.

Can’t imagine what you’d have to pay to buy a similar tree here.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

$5 permit. Will cut a freshie and help keep the roadside clear of advanced reprod on federal lands. Plus my wife loves going out and finding the "perfect" tree each year...

You’re not supposed to cut trees near the road with a FS tree permit. 75’ from a road or trail


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[XXX-er]

A GF who wrote " pest prescriptions " in the oil & gas industry told me anything growing on a write-of way or even the side of the road is a pest and you are doing them a favor removing that pest so we did

Right now I got a set of battery mini-lights on a ficcus plant

[warthog]

For those of you rocking a fake tree like us. These are a must. I just leave them in the tree, so when I open the bag up to set it up, it smells like a christmas tree.
They work really well.

https://www.amazon.com/Scentsicles-W...hoChQMQAvD_BwE

[donutlynx]

You’re not supposed to cut trees near the road with a FS tree permit. 75’ from a road or trail

Perhaps that is the case in your area. Of course follow the regs that are relevant to the permit.

[dunfree]

A nice access road has beautiful pines at dawn, chop at will

[Cruiser]

Oh gawd, I cut the skinniest scrawniest tree you've ever seen this year. I got 2 and I gave my mother in law first choice but when I stood them up next to each other at the back of the truck it was pretty obvious that one was a heck of a lot more full than the other. She chose the nice one.

[BCMtnHound]

Oh gawd, I cut the skinniest scrawniest tree you've ever seen this year. I got 2 and I gave my mother in law first choice but when I stood them up next to each other at the back of the truck it was pretty obvious that one was a heck of a lot more full than the other. She chose the nice one.

Nothing that a drill and a sharp knife won’t fix. Cut the tree a couple whorls taller than you need so there are a couple extra branches at the bottom. Get a drill bit near the same size as the branch (but a bit smaller, not larger) and drill into the bole almost to the centre pith. Take the cut end of the branch, shave off some bark and sharpen it up slightly, then jam it into the hole.
The ‘grafted’ branch won’t get watered as well as the rest of the tree, but the drought tolerant species (doug fir, pines, most true firs) will keep the branch needles fine for the 3 or so weeks you have it, assuming the tree wasn’t drought-stressed to begin with. I might put our to-be-cut tree in a bucket for a day or two in the heater shop as we’re still in drought codes here, just to freshen up all the branches prior to trimming.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Perhaps that is the case in your area. Of course follow the regs that are relevant to the permit.

It’s pretty universal across different Forests. Where are you?


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