This year, rent a tree for the holidays. Credit: jelene, Flickr
The Times talks mostly of L.A.-based The Living Christmas Co., which will deliver a tree anywhere from Beverly Hills in the north to Long Beach in the south, and then pick it up when you're done with it. You can get a pine, cedar, cypress, or sequoia tree at a price of $50 to $135, according to their Web site.
The mission, also according to their site, is to "change the way California celebrates Christmas" by keeping something that symbolizes "hope, joy, and new life" from being tossed aside so easily. When the season is over, they come and take the tree and keep it alive for next Christmas. And if you really like your tree, you can "adopt" it and plant it yourself.
The Times mentions only one other place that has a service like this, in Portland, Oregon. They have, appropriately enough, The Original Living Tree Company, which delivers five and seven foot potted evergreen trees. By the time it gets to New York City, it'll probably be called The Original Famous Ray's Living Tree Company.
If we had this option in Boston, I'm sure my wife and I would use it. We have a small place north of Boston, and don't need a huge tree, and we have been considering our "greenest" option -- buying a bush to decorate and then plant on the side of the house. This would make things easier, and it seems like there would be a lot of opportunity for nurseries around the country to expand their business into the winter.
Beth,12-06-2009, 6:47AM
Why must people insist that fake trees are bad? I have recieved so many cmopliments on my tree and how lovely it looks and is it real, It's not--it it a 9 foot pre-lit Christmas tree. What's that you say a live Christmas tree is "Greener" than a fake tree--nope. what about the chainsaws that pour noxious chemicals into the air as they cut it down, the gas used to transport it to wherever it is going to go, the feul it takes to heat the person in the tent who sells it to you and the gas to get it home and the gas to return it to the store if it's a rented live tree. and if it's not a live potted tree we won't even go into the pine tar, pine needles, fire hazard, live parasites angle. Fake trees rule!
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Jan,12-06-2009, 1:36PM
My sentiments exactly. We have used fake prelit trees as long as they've been in existance. One year my "then" husband suggested we get a live one (we lived in the Pacific Northwest so I imagine it was from the Portland place). I relented and was I sorry! That thing had needles at least 6" long and I was stuck and punctured every time I went to adjust an ornament, never mind putting them up in the first place. I looked like a pincushion by the time Christmas was over. Taking it down was a nightmare! Yes it smelled good, no it was NOT a good experience. Never again. There are times I collect boughs so we have the wonderful fragrence in the house, but we don't use chain saws or other power tools. Don't need to transport them since we get them on our own property. There are some artificial trees that look awful, mine does not. I've had it for almost 10 ears now and expect to have it a lot longer.
Akasha,12-07-2009, 2:06AM
Not to mention those of us who react very badly to the pine sap and fungus living on the tree!
Kathy,12-06-2009, 8:44AM
I remember when my now hubby and I first got together we had no kids in the house.. what we did have was a huge cactus that stood about 5 feet.. so I would decorate my cactus for the holidays.. no pine needles no watering.. It was great!
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Russell Smith,12-06-2009, 10:07AM
I remember when I was a young boy my father would dig up a tree in the fall and put it in a galvanized tub, bring it in for christmas and replant it in the spring. We lived in Pennsylvania, fond memories, I"m now 63.
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debbie,12-06-2009, 2:11PM
This was the best story .
What a wonderful memory.
I think i'd like your dad.
Thanks
Speedycatrox,12-06-2009, 10:43AM
If you think fake trees are green, well, you are wrong. Live trees may be placed upon the curb after the season, bit we don't do that. I take my tree to the local dump, and they use the tree to make wood, or other stuff. Also, fake trees are worse, they are made of plastic, and that is hard to recycle if you seem to have the need to recycle it, but most people would put it in the trash/landfill. So, the need to argue about which is worse : Fake or Live. Let's just have a jolly good season, and have a good winter!
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Erika,12-07-2009, 2:37PM
What a neat idea!!! However, here is South Louisiana, we take the old trees from the side of the road and use them to create a barrier off the coast to protect coastal erosion.
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Lila Croses,12-06-2009, 10:50AM
Russell Smith 12-06-2009 @ 10:07AM
I remember when I was a young boy my father would dig up a tree in the fall and put it in a galvanized tub, bring it in for christmas and replant it in the spring. We lived in Pennsylvania, fond memories, I"m now 63.///////////////////////////////////////////// WHAT A STORY. GOD BLESS YOUR DAD.... I HAVE FOREVER QUESTIONED WHETHER ANYONE DOES, OR IS DOING THE MATH. IT TAKES YEARS FOR A TREE TO GROW, AND ONLY A FEW MINUTES TO BE DESTROYED , AND "ENJOYED" ONLY FOR A FEW DAYS.............PRECIOUS TREES, DEAD, ' 'MALICIOUSLY MURDERED', GONE, FOREVER......WHAT A WASTE......HAVEN'T ANYONE ELSE DONE THE MATH?????????? HELP! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LIVE IN PA, AND IT HURTS TO SEE THE DISTRUCTION.......SAD, SAD, SAD..........
HELLO POPULOUS !!!!!!!HELLO LAWMAKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Tracy Lee,12-06-2009, 11:45AM
I love the idea of a Christmas tree you can plant.
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Diane,12-06-2009, 11:00AM
I have a beautiful artificial tree that I have used for 10 years - a smart investment, as I bought it for 75% off at an after Christmas sale. I have asthma and got it at the doctor's recommendation - and everyone loves it! Much cleaner and no pollen brought into my house!
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Janet A. Keenan,12-06-2009, 11:21AM
I would love this option, if only for the convenience. Someone delivers your tree and then comes back to pick it up for about the price of purchasing a cut tree. Only you didn't have to go get it, drag it through your house, try to get it to stand up in a tree stand, watch the needles fall off, drag it back through your house to put out for pick up, and vacuum pine needles up until July. This should especially be marketed to seniors and singles who might have trouble wrestling a fresh cut tree into and out of the house.
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Lee,12-06-2009, 11:28AM
Let me see. Spend 50 to 125 a year cutting down a tree in the name of Jesus or spend 100 on a nice fake tree that will last up to 10 years and saving between 500 and 1,250 dollars. HMMM tough choice. I will leave the real trees in the woods or outside my home where they belong.
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junecr,12-06-2009, 11:32AM
I bought a slim 'permanent' tree a few years ago n it has been a life saver!! We always went out as a family n cut a tree, bringing it to whichever home we happened to be in that year; n meticulous as my engineering hubby was. we sometimes had to cut it 2 or 3 times to get it right. Add that to the rain pelting down, he would bring tree into carpeted living room to cut it w/gas saw. Get the picture? Then, trying to get it to stand just right in stand was another 'bugger-bear!!! One year my daughter asked her boyfriend to join us in our traditional family tree trimming since that wasn't something he had ever experienced before. Needless to say, by the time we had gone through the ritual of the cuts n fits n come to conclusion that the tree was just plain crooked, they had gone on to better things. Of course these are some of our most memorable stories to tell each year. However, when it's all said n done, my slim beautiful 'permanent tree' looks just as family oriented n beautiful with only problem being taking it out of the hall closet each year, already up n ready to go w/only problem of making all lights work!!! My morning coffee in my favorite Christmas cup drunk before the tree each morning,is still one of the best memories I have. And it doesn't enter my mind to call it a 'fake' Christmas tree. Life is too good now n the wonderful memories live on in all our hearts,,,it's all in the perception we allow in our hearts n minds. j.
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heidi,12-06-2009, 11:35AM
Fake trees are so ugly I love real trees and its nice to know you can get a real tree from this place if you cant get one near you.
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JEANNIE,12-06-2009, 12:01PM
Old age and serious health problems prevent us from autting our own tree as has been our life long tradition. Therefore, the artificial trees, garland, and wreaths are a blessing for us. A daughter and her husband furnish and decorate our tree for us now. in our younger healhier days, we planted many evergreen trees, which yet stand today on the farm, and the snow fall decorates them to perfection for this family. In my opinion, rental of a christmas tree during times of desperation and need, the rental is a very stupid idea , and one of tremendous waste !
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ZaZapper,12-06-2009, 12:26PM
It's a great idea for California and other non cold areas. But if you'd do this in say, Minnesota, the tree would go through "shock" after being in a warm house and then immediately returned to the wild.
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Bean,12-06-2009, 1:03PM
In my family we always go and cut down our tree in our back yard, but we only cut the very-smallest-no-body-would-want-tree. Last year I used a knife to get our tree that was an inch thick.... We had to tie it to a post to keep it up and if the ordainment was big at all we couldn't put it on.
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k,12-06-2009, 2:44PM
Fake trees don't smell! The best part of a live or "real" tree is the scent, you can't beat it. Plus, fake trees are made out of toxic plastics and chemicals which is not good for you or the environment...
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Squiggles,12-06-2009, 3:48PM
The idea of a rental tree is nice; I'd really like the convenience of getting it delivered. But that would really spoil the fun for my kids, who love the yearly ritual of going to the nursery on the 23rd to pick out a tree. We always go that late because we don't put the tree up until Christmas Eve and also because trees are much cheaper by then. I was thinking about using a potted tree just the other day when I saw potted trees at Safeway, although the trees they sold were a bit too small for our purpose. But, reading the article, I was thinking, if they can keep 5' to 7' tall trees in a pot, I should be able to grow one myself. It would have to be a dwarf variety, of course, as they naturally don't get bigger than 5'-7', and with the proper precautions (getting it used to warmer temperature in the garage), it should survive the temperature difference just fine. It would have the permanency of an artificial tree and the freshness and scent of a live tree. I think i just might try that!
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