How To Choose The Best Live Christmas Tree

As Thanksgiving approaches, people are thinking about Christmas preparations. It only happens once a year, but it can provide more joy

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and memories than all the seasons together. Visits to Christmas tree farms are common throughout the holidays, so brush up and take notes

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We asked Lauren Kirchner, director of sales and marketing at Spring Creek Growers in Magnolia, Texas, how to discover and buy the

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freshest trees. Kirchner's family has learnt a lot since Spring Creek Growers opened on her grandparents' farmstead 33 years ago. "It's

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such a meaningful tradition," Kirchner adds, "There are always new families visiting the farm to find their first Christmas trees, and others

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come back year after year, which makes what we do so special." Her top advice may make your next visit your finest.

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Next, pick a day to visit your Christmas tree farm. Timing matters: "If you're planning to cut your own tree and want to have the most options

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to choose from," Kirchner adds, "be sure to visit the farm within a week of their opening date." That's usually the weekend before or following

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Thanksgiving. If you wait, you may have fewer options and empty fields, depending on the farm's popularity.

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Cut-and-choose or pre-cut trees? You have alternatives in the field on several farms. "Farms in different regions have different field-grown

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