Many of us have fond memories of cutting down our own Christmas tree every year or meticulously checking every option in the fragrant lineup at our local tree stand on chilly December nights. But this year, with the restrictions of coronavirus, having a Christmas tree delivered directly to you is more appealing than ever.
Ordering Christmas trees online means your blue spruce or balsam fir won’t sit out for days or weeks before you buy it. Instead, it will be cut, shipped, and delivered to your door within days, leaving you with far less heavy lifting, no roof-rack tying, and a greater likelihood of actually getting the tree up and decorated before Santa’s arrival.
Yes, it’s still early to be thinking about Christmas trees, but this year we’ve got a hunch that most holiday items (trees included) are going to sell out fast. To help you plan ahead, we found a bunch of online retailers selling live Christmas trees and shipping nationwide. Most haven’t started sending trees out just yet (even the freshest cut won’t last you two months; if you need something before Thanksgiving, you’re better off with an artificial tree), but in some cases, you can buy your tree now and schedule it to arrive anywhere between early November and the week before Christmas.
Editors’ note: We’ll be updating this list as more retailers become available (and as it starts to feel more reasonable to think about the holidays), so be sure to check back as we get closer to Christmas.
While it doesn’t sell live Christmas trees in its stores, Target does sell them online — and, right now, it’s throwing in free standard shipping. You can pick from four tree varieties in sizes as small as tabletop and as big as seven feet tall.
Home Depot sells five varieties of trees, including Fraser firs and noble firs, which have lovely blue-tinted needles. Nordmann fir trees have waxy needles that stay green longer and are good for allergy sufferers since they don’t emit as much fragrance. Grand firs are one of the tallest varieties, while Turkish firs are known for their layered foliage and strong branches that can support even the heaviest ornaments. Trees are available now between five and seven and a half feet tall and take between one and two weeks to ship.
Lowe’s has a large number of live Christmas trees available for delivery, including this seven-to-eight-foot Fraser fir, a tree known for its full body, boughs that hold their needles, and rich fragrance. Delivery scheduling and pricing is calculated based on your location.
Williams Sonoma also sells fresh-cut Fraser-fir Christmas trees online, with deliveries starting the week of November 30.
If you’ve ever bought produce that went bad the day after you brought it home, you know the importance of buying freshly harvested veggies and fruit. It’s the same with Christmas trees. These Fraser fir trees are freshly cut within a day of shipment and carefully packed to retain freshness. They are specially selected for Hammacher Schlemmer from a tree farm in North Carolina. Trees range in height from four and a half to eight feet tall. Trees are now available for purchase and shipment.
A Tree at Your Front Door has been growing Christmas trees on the same plot of land in Lake City, Michigan, for the past 40 years. The family-owned business will ship your choice of Frasier fir, balsam fir (one of the most fragrant types of Christmas trees), or white pine, which has soft, long-lasting needles. The trees range in height from five to eight and a half feet tall. Trees are ready to ship and some of the more popular ones have already sold out.
The Fraser firs from Fast Growing Trees start shipping on December 1, but you can preorder yours for a very reasonable price. Shipping is not free, however, and is estimated at checkout.
Grown on its farm in Quebec, this seller’s balsam-fir trees come with strong pine fragrance, firm branches, long-lasting needles, and free shipping (unless you live in California, Arizona, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, or Washington, where there is an additional $10 fee). It guarantees your tree will look as good as it did when it left the farm or it’ll send you a free replacement.
Shady Rest Tree Farm has a wide variety of Christmas trees, from the Nordmann fir to the Colorado blue spruce, which has silver-tinted needles that some even say are cat resistant. Trees are available in heights between three and seven feet. Shady Rest opens for the season on November 23, and all of its trees ship free via FedEx.
If you live in one of the five boroughs
Gallo Gardens may be located in Brooklyn, but it sells fresh-cut balsam- and Fraser-fir Christmas trees handpicked in the mountains of North Carolina and Canada. Christmas-tree setup is included in the price of delivery, but if you want to do it yourself, you can choose contactless delivery.
Strategist senior editor Peter Martin has ordered his Christmas tree from this sibling-run Brooklyn-based retailer a few years in a row and recommends the company to other New Yorkers. In addition to delivery and stand setup, Christmas Tree Brooklyn offers light setup and tree removal.
Chelsea Garden Center will deliver and set up one of their Fraser Firs to Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens for a flat fee of $40 per order. You can choose between 5 and 10 ft trees and even add a string of lights to your order.
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