AT OUR HOUSE, we never rush out to buy a Christmas tree. For whatever reason, my husband has always been concerned about the tree drying out and becoming a fire hazard. Perhaps he’s justified in his wariness.
However, due to his vigilance, we’ve come very close, several years, to going without a Christmas tree. I recall one December standing in a tree lot just days before Christmas with about five trees to select from. We got a cheap, Charlie Brown tree. If you wait long enough, they practically give the trees away.
If you wait too long, you'll find mostly empty Christmas tree lots, like this one at Farmer Seed & Nursery in Faribault. Fortunately, there were plenty of trees to choose from inside.
This year, though, because of a full schedule, we purchased our tree on the evening of December 14, early by our standards.
A nearby greenhouse offering half-price trees was already closed for the evening, so we headed to Farmer Seed & Nursery in Faribault with a pocketed $5-off coupon. After a quick perusal of the trees, I pronounced that I really didn’t like any of them (in our price range).
My husband muttered something about “a tree’s a tree,” but humored my desire to check out the trees at another greenhouse in town. As we drove by the front side of Farmer Seed, I saw a sign advertising the trees at 25 percent off. I figured I’d just made a mistake by suggesting we search elsewhere. But I did not say this out loud.
So, down the road we headed to the next tree lot, which was closed. My husband, to his credit, did not utter a word of disapproval as I directed that we better return to Farmer Seed with less than a half hour until closing time.
I knew if I was to have a Christmas tree, I needed to find it here, and fast.
I passed on the trees painted an unnatural blue-green. I passed on the short tabletop trees.
I could have chosen from among about a half dozen flocked trees.
I admired the flocked trees but decided they really weren’t my style.
The premium Christmas trees, which are too tall and too costly.
I lingered too long over the magnificent and costly fraser firs that were absolutely perfect but way to big and tall for my living room. I passed on the two trees that were barren of needles in too many spots.
After doing some quick math, I decided we could buy the $44 tree I liked best because, at 25 percent off and with that $5 coupon, it would cost only $31.05. I thought that a bit much, but Randy didn’t. I think he just wanted to get the darned tree and get out of there, because he mentioned something later about cold feet and I then mentioned that I had suggested he wear boots (like me) instead of tennis shoes.
That tree is sitting now, undecorated, in a corner of the living room. By the time Randy got the tree into the house, it was too late to decorate and too cold to decorate. I mean the tree was too cold; it was still thawing. Just stepping near the tree was like stepping into a freezer.
Anyway, that’s how the Christmas tree selection process works at our house.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Do you put up your tree right after Thanksgiving? Or do you wait, like us, until shortly before Christmas? And, even more interesting, how does the selection process go for you? Is it difficult, fun, easy, trying, etc.?
Let’s hear your stories.
P.S. Maybe I’ll post a photo of our tree once it’s decorated.
© Copyright 2010 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Christmas trees are quite the topic when it comes to a couple that has been married just a few years. Here are a few things we go through each year. I live in a house divided when it comes to Christmas trees. My wife seems to put up a front when it comes to trees. She’d just as soon get a fake one (not artificial, they are fake to me). I will not bow to her desire to go down the fake road. We get the tree either Thanksgiving weekend or the weekend after. Our 4 trees together have ranged from 4-8 ft. tall. This year we settled on about a 6ft. Nova Scotia Balsam Fir. How our local greenhouse ended up with trees from Nova Scotia is beyond me. We are a car type couple, no SUV or truck. So we have to wedge whatever tree we buy into the back of my compact car. I appreciate the free loading service offered at the nursery but not the look I get when the dude sees my little car. “Just shove it in the trunk, please”. We also have come to find that trees are most secure when tied to the something solid, window cranks work best. Get out the fish line and tie that tree to something solid if you are a newly wed couple. The angst resulting from a tipped over tree is best avoided. The cost of presents soaked from a poor tree watering effort is also one more thing a “real tree” kind of guy like me has to be willing to accept. I swore that tree stand had a leak. Nope, just me spilling water for 4 straight days. Paperback books can soak up a lot of water! Merry Christmas!!
Josh, thanks for sharing your entertaining Christmas tree shopping story. I can just picture that tree being shoved into your compact car.
As far as the “fake” versus “artificial,” I too term them as “fake.” This year, for the first time, I suggested maybe we should buy a fake tree. I was met with hostility from the teenage son. I was not entirely serious, but our front door has been scratched while shoving the tree into the house. And we are getting a new front door soon.
I hate to tell you this, Josh, but disagreements about tree choice extend beyond newly-wed status. My husband grew up with a long-needled tree. I grew up with short needles. Typically our tree has short needles, so you know who gets her way. I can’t compromise on that, although maybe I did one or two times in 28 years.
Water spilled on the carpet can be disastrous. That happened to my brother and his wife and their off-white carpet turned pink from the contact of red wrapping paper with water. Needless to say they had to replace their carpet. Since then I insist on setting the Christmas tree stand on top of a flat garbage bag before hiding it all with a tree skirt. That eases my fears.
Thanks for stopping by Minnesota Prairie Roots and sharing your humorous Christmas tree shopping saga.
Here is the story from your aunt. We have two “fake” trees. The one in the living room is fiberoptic. And by looking at “fake” trees it is outdated! But we like the changing colors of it and the fact the lights stay on year around. Sad to say, or guests staying in the spare bedroom, for the remainder of the year must share the room with the tree. Covered with a sheet and behind a screen in the corner of the room. Maybe this year I will just leave all of the decorations on it??!!! Sounds like a deal to me. The downstairs tree goes into the storage room off season. Also lights on it. Should I leave it also full of all decorations? “Fake” is good enough for me. I think they look nice and perfectly shaped! Beats going out in the cold like we used to do.
Today’s “fake” trees look so much more realistic than those manufactured years ago.
Storage would be an issue with us getting an artificial tree. Where would we put it given we have limited storage space? I say if you have the room in your house, leave your tree in that spare bedroom covered with a sheet. Who cares? Guests should be happy simply to have a bed.
I thought the best year was when Dad screwed the Christmas tree to the floor b/c you guys thought C-Monster would tip it over. And then he never even went near it!
Oh, my goodness, I had forgotten all about that stabilizing of the Christmas tree to keep your then baby brother from toppling it. Ah, such memories. Makes me smile just thinking about that safety precaution.
That’s always an exciting time in our house too. We did not go through the snow this year to cut our own down, but chose a real one from inside. We got ours on the 5th, and put it up later that week. Although, I am very disappointed this year as it is dropping needles so bad already. You cannot even go near the tree and needles drop off. We did everything right, a fresh cut, constant water, not by a heat source, etc.
Is anyone else having touble with their real trees dropping needles so early?
I would like to see a picture of your tree once it’s decorated too!
It really is frustrating when you get a Christmas tree that drops needles so early on. I have no sage advice. Readers?
FYI, my Christmas tree is still sitting, undecorated, in the corner. It is on my “to-do” list.
I live in the “Christmas Tree Capital of the world” or so Waushara Co. once boasted, but I have a fake fiberoptic tree. My husband, John, loved the lights and decorations. What he and the boys hated was the little red apples that I would decorate on the tree. They would say “It wasn’t an apple tree”.. The first Christmas after my husband died, the boys wondered why I didn’t have my tree up. I told them it was just me and I didn’t feel like having a tree so Tim put up the tree. I put the red apples on it and didn’t turn on the lights because John wasn’t there and everyone would have hated the tree!!! I had the tree up to please the boys and I didn’t turn the lights on to please me that year!
It is tough after the death of a loved one, like your beloved John, to feel like putting up a Christmas tree. Hopefully you are now turning on those lights, in celebration of how much John enjoyed the lights and decorations.
So, I am curious. Why DID you put apples on your Christmas tree?
The kids and I go to one of the local stores selling them. I let the kids pick the one they like (with a little influence from me). We always try to pick a small one…under 6 ft. We get it all set up in the living room, and I put on the lights. This year Elle pretty much decorated it by herself. The only problem was that most of the decorations were on the bottom half of the tree. hehe
I think it’s great that you let Elle do most of the decorating.
If I’m remembering correctly, in 1994 we hardly hung any decorations on the lower part of the tree to keep our then 10-month-old son from pulling them off. This may have been the same year Randy fastened the Christmas tree stand to the floor so our toddler wouldn’t tip it over.
When I was living at my parents’ house, my dad refused to pay more than $5 for a tree, so we would rarely, if ever, have a tree before Christmas Eve, Eve. Most times, lots were just looking to get rid of them and we would get it for free! Then we would decorate it as a family around Christmas Eve and talk dad into opening presents on Christmas Day. But it always took convincing because he likes how pretty it looks with all of the presents! All in all, our tree stayed up until around Epiphany, or until we got sick of looking at it and it at us!
This year began new traditions for my husband and me. Though we have been married 2.4 years, we haven’t put up a tree for our previous 2 Christmases because we spent them at our parents’ homes and not our own. Last year we didn’t even get out other Christmas decorations. So because my parents are coming this year, we HAD to get a tree! Next dilemma, how would we get it home? We have a little car and live at least a 30-mile radius from places that sell trees and would be getting the tree on our monthly run to town to stock up, so a tree+a full car of other goodies=problem. Good news is, we went to Lowe’s and they had cute, little 4-foot table-top Fraser Firs. We looked at the local grocery store, and they wanted $20 for that tree, Lowe’s had a sign for $2. And it would fit in the car! Went to check out, the cashier asked for $1.30! So here begins our Christmas traditions of decorating our tree with ornaments from our childhood and putting all kinds of presents around it!
What a great story, Amy. Finally, I’ve found someone who waits longer than our family to buy a tree. Good to hear you are starting your own traditions, too, as a young married couple.