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This year the price of a real Christmas tree may be significantly higher.  The terrible flooding in Western North Carolina has had a big impact on tree farms, and high fuel costs also make a massive difference to shipping trees all over the US.

 

 

Those that have the option of the countryside nearby may well choose to visit a local farm and choose a common pine over the coveted Fraser Fir of higher elevation and longer road trips; but supply and demand means those prices are going up too. 

It’s moments like this that you start to eye the fake trees when you’re shopping for groceries and catch yourself thinking “would it be so bad?”

I’m still at a point in my life where I answer that question with a resounding “Yes!” — and I save my pennies for not only the best roast dinner of the year, but a real tree. 

I love the feeling of bringing the outside in, and I love the way my most creative impulses in natural tree and home decorating are egged on by the feeling and scent of a real, honest-to-goodness tree, with all of its irregularities. As we grow older I can only hope that reduced income and reduced energy will result in a smaller tree, not a false one.

 

 

The preponderance of plastic items (and completely unnecessary but cheap plastic items) in our modern lives exacerbates this feeling, and really has me pulling back from ornaments and Christmas decorations I might have purchased twenty years ago – and probably did. 

I have visited enough thrift stores and municipal dumps in my life to know what happens to those trees and Christmas tat when the lights stop working or the needles begin to lose their luster.  They become SEP – Somebody Else’s Problem. And there’s a lot of them. Four years ago, author and TV presenter Joe Lamp’l guest ranted on the environmental impact of both choices.

Once we’ve established that we’re not going down that road, there’s this other issue to be dealing with.

To cut or not to cut? The choice is not quite as clear – especially as a gardener.

 

 

I have an extremely difficult time cutting flowers in my garden that were planted with the express purpose of gracing my hallway vase, much less chopping down a thing of beauty and a joy forever on an annual basis – so why continue?

Had I not been witness several years ago to a friend’s ill-fated foray into an environmentally sensitive yuletide season, perhaps I would take the plunge myself and trade my Christmas tree stand for a mid-size fish pond and a hand mister, but it’s hard to forget what happened.

Like many of us, my friends considered the pros and cons of a living tree.  The scent of balsam would fill the air, a new tree would grace their garden, and they would stand as environmentally-aware beacons in a disposable society.  They chose a lovely tree, a blue spruce I believe, perhaps a little on the prickly side (and not the best choice for Mid-Atlantic gardens), but gorgeous nonetheless. 

How their hearts sang with righteous pride as the burlap was wrapped around the precious root ball and the backhoe lifted its seemingly trivial load into the back of their Ford F150.   This would truly be a Christmas to remember.

Except not in the way they imagined.

Somewhere between the Christmas tree farm and the house, she caught a strep virus and was immediately excused from any heavy lifting work.  He was concerned, but decided not to ponder the logistics until the following day.   So the tree sat in the back of the truck overnight as hands and feet were thawed and the house was prepared.   The next day dawned bright and crisp and he set out to bring the tree into the house.  One hour later he came inside – without the tree, but with the beginning of a hernia.

It was still in the back of the truck a week later.

My husband took pity on them before the next weekend dawned, two days before Christmas.  The two men struggled to save hardwood floors at the expense of their backs as the yuletide behemoth was dragged through doorways far too small and carpets far too clean.  Eventually it was hefted into its too-small-after-all galvanized tub – at a slight tilt.

The prickly tree was hastily decorated for Christmas Day,  a bedsheet was thrown over the massive base, and Christmas was duly celebrated.

A praying mantis egg sac hatched a few days later, encouraged by the spring like temperatures of the family home. Hundreds of them. Everywhere. Now THAT was pure comedy.

Sadly, the post-Christmas tale doesn’t get better.  Amid freezing rain and sleet, a three foot hole was patiently dug and the tree was wrestled out of the house after the holiday season and deposited – at a slight tilt.  By August of the next year, spider mites had done their worst and the tree was once again moved to a permanent home at the municipal yard waste site. 

Granted, there are a few things that my friends could have done to lessen The Great Christmas Calamity. 

The tub could have been bigger, the tree smaller, the hole dug in /September (no doubt to the consternation of the Home Owners’ Association).  My friend could have had the decency to get sick after the holidays for that matter, or simply read Joe Lamp’l’s tips.

But it’s a story that sticks with me – even after I have seen 30 and 40 foot trees in other friend’s yards and been told that they were once Christmas trees too.

I’m impressed with the sentiment, but the tree itself rarely serves the garden it smothers. Many of the trees we grow as Christmas trees don’t make the best trees for small or medium lots, and like my friend’s choice, sometimes the species itself is a poor choice for the climate.  Once you’ve grown that tree for 30 years, and can finally be truthful with yourself and admit it wasn’t really what you wanted in that space, how do you cut it down and cope with the guilt? Moreover, how do you afford to cut it down? 

Nope, it’s a cut tree for me again this year.  We may cut it ourselves, and it may be about three feet smaller than usual, but I won’t worry about getting a hole dug in December winds.

I’ve got enough bulbs to plant as it is. – MW

The Christmas Tree Conundrum originally appeared on GardenRant on December 5, 2024.

The post The Christmas Tree Conundrum appeared first on GardenRant.

* This article was originally published here

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