When I was a kid, my mom insisted on a live tree at Christmas. Not a tree that was once alive and had been cut, either. Our trees all had a root ball wrapped up in burlap. After Christmas, we planted Robert the blue spruce, Julie the white pine, Douglas (the Douglas fir), and several others in the front yard of our Washington, D.C. home. Our parents divorced and our family moved out decades ago, but three trees are still there. They’re now taller than the house.
When Andy and I moved into our house, we got a 5-foot tall Monterrey pine in a pot as our first tree. After Christmas, we planted the tree in our backyard. The second year, we got another Monterrey pine Christmas tree and planted it in the empty parkway next to our driveway.
We had a few years without trees while Baby D was a toddler, and then while we were traveling for the holidays. Once we stayed home for Christmas, though, Baby D demanded a tree. We had no more space to plant trees, so we got cut noble firs. They were beautiful and smelled lovely, but I hated killing a tree for the holidays.
I consoled myself with the fact that our first two Christmas trees grew very fast—and very tall. Those pines provided homes for many birds and shade in the hot SoCal summers. When our asshole cop neighbor attempted a McMansion, I was grateful that I could look at evergreen branches instead of the Chino Hills tract house he built within 5 feet of the property line.
Baby D grew up climbing our backyard tree and loved it.
Andy, on the other hand, grew to hate the tree. He had turned a good chunk of our backyard into his vegetable garden. Within a decade, the Monterrey pine was “stealing all the sunlight!” Even though we had the branches thinned, Andy sulked when his garden did poorly and talked about selling his little greenhouse, “because I can’t grow anything with that damned tree!”
I told my husband to get a grip and wait until Baby D was older. Once Baby D became a teen, we had one last Christmas party where Dalton and his friends climbed all over the tree. And then, as much as it hurt, I hired professional tree trimmers to remove it as Andy’s Christmas present.
I’m not sure which was worse: Dalton calling me “tree murderer” for a month or listening to asshole cop neighbor crow about how great it was that the tree was gone.
At least the other Monterrey pine was still a huge, beautiful tree.
Until the city cut it down, along with all the other trees around our house.
They eventually replaced those seven trees with two small magnolia trees and one Brisbane box tree. I watered and fertilized those trees diligently. The magnolias are still alive. The Brisbane box? Dead. And despite my complaints to the city, the dead tree has been sitting there for a year. (Probably because the city is out of money due to the 1 dollar out of every 4 in revenue going into the pension fund for our corrupt, racist, antisemitic police department.)
My evil plan was to get another living Monterrey pine for our Christmas tree and plant it on the parkway in front of our sidewalk (where the dead tree still sits). If we planted it at 4 AM on New Year’s Day, our tree-hating cop neighbor would be too busy sleeping off the usual holiday bender to notice. He’d probably think the city planted it.
And since he parks at least one of his six cars under it on most days, I looked forward to listening to him complain about the pine needles and sap landing on his precious vehicles.
Yes, I am that petty.
Unfortunately, Orchard Supply Hardware, which supplied us with our first two Monterrey pines, no longer existed. I searched all over and couldn’t find a single one in southern California. The best I could do were Monterrey pine seedlings.
But I found something else: “The Living Christmas Company.” This company brings you a live, potted pine tree in early December. You water it, decorate it, and celebrate with it. After Christmas, the company collects the tree. When the trees become too big to rent out at Christmas, The Living Christmas Company donates them to local communities or to be planted in the wild through the Urban Reforestation Project.
And one of the trees they offer? A Monterrey pine. While renting a live tree costs about $100 more than buying a cut noble fir, you don’t have to worry about transporting the tree home or dealing with the Christmas tree stand.
Best of all? You aren’t killing a tree. Instead, you’re part of growing a tree.
Our Monterrey pine arrived on Sunday. I’m calling him Milton.
I’ve heard of that but I don’t think we have a rental place in the area. Very cool that they survive being indoors for a month, then back outdoors.
Well, out here there’s not much difference between indoors (where it rarely gets above 65 in our house) versus outdoors (which swings between 48-70 degrees in the sun). But I have heard of rental trees in the UK as well.
What a fabulous idea… I love it!
Here’s hoping Milton will be very happy in his new (temporary) home.
Milton was exceptionally thirsty the first few days, but he’s been doing very well since drinking like a parched camel. I would buy him and plant him if I could!
Oh, oh, oh – that is fantastic! They don’t offer that service out here or I’d have signed up already. We made an attempt at doing it ourselves one year when Himself planted our tree in the farm which his boss owns, but when it came time to dig it up, he asked if we could just get a fake one. I couldn’t be mean enough to make him do it when his back was killing him, so fake it is. But if we lived in London, that is *so* what we would do.
I’d read about this trend in the UK, but it was the first time I’d seen it here. I was so thrilled. It’s not like either of us want to cart around a tree with our injuries, either. Dalton would have to do it all.
Well quite. And we don’t have a Dalton to do it for us here either.
Some day, Dalton will be gone…about the time I need all that muscle, probably.
“The Living Christmas Company” is astounding! What a great biz idea! That makes me happy. What’s up with your neighbor hating trees? And why did the city remove the other trees? Inquiring minds. I’m sad for your loss of tree, but nice what you did for your hubby.
My neighbor would astroturf the world if he could. He keeps trying to cut down his city tree because “it dumps leaves” on his car. The old pepper trees in the parkway went untrimmed for a long time, and their roots wound up pushing up and cracking the sidewalk. Did a whole post on that and the asshole neighbor. Yeah, hubby was pleased, but seeing the pics makes me sad!
I had no idea such a service existed. What a great (if expensive) compromise!
My grandparents planted a living Christmas tree in their Trenton yard one holiday season when my mom and her siblings were kids, and that thing grew to an enormous height. It stood for decades, withstanding a lightning strike even, before it was finally removed. That was a sad day for everyone.
Tara is already complaining that our backyard trees are stealing the sunshine from her garden. We are currently at a stalemate, because I love them, but I have a feeling this is a battle I won’t win.
Oh, the gardeners always win the fight over light. But Tara grows a ton more produce than Andy, which makes it a cost effective method of feeding yourselves! Andy spends a ton on seeds, seedling mats, the greenhouse lights, water, etc. And that doesn’t even take into account his man hours. It doesn’t seem worth it. The only food that doesn’t require much money to produce are our lemons and oranges. Which are on trees!
WOW, how big they grew!!!!!
I have the same guilty conscience. I grew up with a plastic tree and was totally fine with it – for me, it was normal. But ever since we had kids, hubby insists we must have a real tree from ambiance and the scent.
I’ve been fighting it every xmas, until I found a company that sells small xmas trees in a pot, with roots and all so you can replant them. I got one and we planted it afterwards according to the instructions, but it still promptly died.
I wonder if it could have lived in the plant pot – I’ll never know. It seemed fine but didn’t adjust to being planted.
And so now we’re back to killing trees, because it was too much fuss for hubby and I don’t drive so he needs to be onboard… Will be crossing my fingers that someone thinks of renting them over here!
Oh, so frustrating when the trees don’t make it. I feel your pain. There’s nothing close to the scent of a real tree–I’m with your husband on that–but even when cities turn them into compost, I still feel like a murderer. I guess the trees do okay in the pots until they hit a certain height.
What a fabulous story. I love the living Christmas tree idea. We have a fake tree, partly because of all the critters in our home. It is so sad to see all the trees on their way to being dead on the curb after Christmas is over.
It is depressing to see the trees on the curb, but I am glad so many cities turn them into wood chips and mulch. The nice things about a fake tree is that its reusable! Also a one time expense. Christmas trees get more expensive every year. I’ve also heard that the west coast is producing fewer trees because it’s more profitable to grow marijuana…
What a fantastic business, The Living Christmas Company.
Here in the Pacific NW, we’re blessed with so many evergreen trees that it has never seemed a problem to buy a cut tree. A couple of times we drove up into the mts. and had the U S Forest Service point to an area where we could cut our own tree.
In a previous house, we had so many huge Douglas firs in the yard and close to the house that we had to hire loggers to cut a couple of them down. It was reasonable thing to do, but I cried a little watching it.
My family in New Hampshire was shocked that we paid over $100 for our Christmas trees. They can go to the Christmas tree farms and cut their own for $25.
I couldn’t bear to watch them removing either of our Monterrey pines. It still makes me sad.
Cool idea but the cynic in me wants to visit the forest for retired trees….
LOL, legit cynicism. I did ask if they would sell me a tree and they’ve refused so far. Either they get good tax breaks for donating trees or I’m not offering enough money.
Wow! How many years did it take for the tree in the photo to grow that big?
My dad planted a row of live Christmas trees (not sure which type of tree specifically) in our yard in rural Maryland when I was little. I used to practice soccer dribbling around the trees when I was a kid. They’re still alive today, which amazes me every time I go home, and bigger than the one you had to cut down but probably not that much. They are more than 40 years old!
Yeah, same with the trees around my old house! The Monterrey pines grow very, very fast. The one in our backyard was about 15 in that photo?
Hurrah, Christmas tree celebration! How old is your kid now?
I try not to get too specific on my blog, but I will say he’s a teenager.
Years just march along!
Oh I love this story so much! I didn’t know such a service existed–how smart. We should just use this instead of the cut noble fir (although I do have to say, it’s a HUGE industry in Oregon and Washington).
I love Milton 🙂 He’s beautiful
Yeah, although I keep hearing how pot farms are overtaking Christmas tree farms. Maybe there are just less trees for Southern California.
Live Christmas trees aren’t a part of my tradition, so this was a fascinating read about your live trees through the years and now. I am sure Andy could have moved his plants somewhere where there was natural sunlight or move towards something like an artificial greenhouse.
Like the others have said, the Living Tree Company sounds like a very nice service. They bring the tree to you! They do the heavy lifting and driving! They sound like professionals and it really saves you the hassle. You rent Milton but also get to keep Milton? Milton looks right at home.
I don’t think Andy had a Christmas tree growing up, either. I’m not sure he actually sees the point of them–he prefers to save money!
Or backyard isn’t that big, so the tree really did have to go in order for his garden to survive. So sad, though.
Unfortunately, we don’t get to keep Milton, we just rent him.
Hope you enjoy Milton for as long as you can have him this season. Andy probably is happy to see it go, for he doesn’t need to worry about maintenance or maintenance fees Renting a tree for Christmas isn’t too bad if it saves costs. Perhaps you could rent two trees next year, just a suggestion.
I think we only have space for one tree, but I’m gonna keep looking for one to plant.
Awe, Milton looks so cute! I was really enthralled by your story. I’ll admit, I grew up in a fake tree house. I too would hate to cut down and kill a tree just for Christmas. But a living tree sounds awesome, and the Living Tree Company seems like they’re doing amazing work. I’ll have to see if something like that exists in my area. I have been so busy with carpet cleanings that I’ve put Christmas decoration on the backburner but I’m hoping to get some things up before this weekend haha
Thanks for visiting and glad you liked the story. There’s always a big debate about whether it’s better to have a cut tree or a fake one. Tree farms are a decent industry that does store carbon; it seems more environmentally friendly than manufacturing fake trees. But if you only have one fake tree you use every year, that doesn’t seem terrible, either. And I do have friends who are highly allergic to pine. Good luck with your decorations this weekend!
My family had a living tree once when I was a kid. It lived in my parents’ yard for several decades afterward. I have never heard of renting a living tree. What an interesting concept.
We have had artificial trees for most of our marriage. They shed needles almost like the real thing!