Cutting Your Own Christmas Tree: A Tradition Worth Braving the Cold For
The Joy (and Slight Madness) of the DIY Christmas Tree
What could be more fun than braving below-freezing temperatures on a late fall or early winter morning, getting down on your hands and knees in mucky soil, and risking a finger or two in the process—all in the name of cutting your own Christmas tree?
All right, maybe I’m overstating things. In truth, it’s a fun outing and a productive one. You come home with a reward: the perfect, fresh tree for celebrating the holidays.
From New York City Pines to Connecticut Charm
When I lived in New York City, Christmas trees were pre-cut, pre-priced, and pre-dried-out. I’d buy one, drag it back to my apartment, set it up in its stand, fill the base with water, and decorate it within an inch of its soon-to-end life. Then I’d admire it as I watched the needles fall faster and faster. Despite my best care, it lasted about a week. The problem? It had probably been cut down—somewhere in Canada—before Thanksgiving.
My first winter in Connecticut was a revelation. I went out in early December to a Christmas tree farm, paid my flat fee, and the attendant handed me a receipt—and a saw.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” I asked.
“How else do you expect to cut your own tree?” came the reply.
It was a new adventure—and one with a far greater reward than my Canadian-by-way-of-New-York tree: a Christmas tree that stayed fresh and fragrant from early December right through the twelve days of Christmas.
Why Cutting Your Own Tree Is the Real Holiday Spirit
If you’ve never done it before, this is the year to start your own tradition. Bundle up in scarves and mittens, head to one of Connecticut’s many Christmas tree farms, and crunch through the frosty rows of evergreens. Breathe in that clean, woodsy scent while searching for “the one.”
When you find it, there’s a small thrill in sawing it down yourself—followed by the satisfying ritual of tying it to the roof of your car and heading home for cocoa (or an appropriate adult beverage) while decorating Mother Nature’s masterpiece.
Where to Cut Your Own Christmas Tree in Connecticut
You can find a Connecticut Christmas tree farm near you at ctchristmastree.org. The state’s rolling hills and storybook towns—so often featured in Hallmark Channel holiday movies—make the perfect setting for this timeless tradition.
During many of the years I lived in Guilford, I went to the farm owned by my Pearce Real Estate colleague, Brenda Davenport, in Clinton. And instead of finding “the one” each year, I always found the perfect one—beautifully shaped, very much alive, and quite majestic.
I highly recommend Brenda’s Christmas Acres Tree Farm, 67 Kelseytown Road in Clinton—open weekends, 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., beginning the day after Thanksgiving and running through Christmas. You’ll usually find Brenda greeting visitors at the main entrance. Tell her I sent you.
Wrap-Up: Make It a Connecticut Holiday to Remember
Cutting your own Christmas tree isn’t just about the tree—it’s about the laughter, the adventure, and the scent of pine that clings to your coat on the drive home. In Connecticut, where the landscapes look like they were designed for a Hallmark holiday movie, you might just find that the perfect tree is waiting for you—and so is the perfect memory.
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