Anyone anywhere can buy a potted Christmas tree from your local area and have it planted by someone else, not in your backyard. Each year, you can bring a potted Christmas tree into your home and have it planted after the holidays by your local parks department. Or you can give your tree, or sell it, to someone in your town who is in the market for an inexpensive or free tree. You can have a potted tree every year that grows old in your local area.
We are the original and only such service in the world. If you'd like to run your own living Christmas tree business in your town scroll down to see franchise info.
Just take three or four fun pioneering minutes to read this section. Basically you'd buy an evergreen tree with roots in a pot, then drop it off to your local parks department to get planted. (If you want to plant your tree on your property, TOLCTC provides planting recommendations here.)
Read our care recommendations to learn if a potted tree is for you.
Source your tree. Call around to plant nurseries. Plant nurseries in the city are retail, in the country they are wholesale. Ask for the manager to find out about price and size of the rootball. Don't be shy to ask for a discount or negotiated rate. The lowest you will probably find a 5īto 6ītree is about $40. The rootball should be between 16 and 20 inches in diameter. You will want to ask for a "B&B or container", (the root area is called Balled in Burlap- B&B, or in a plastic pot- container.) You will want an evergreen tree (conifer), the size is up to you. Due to the weight of the tree with the roots, you may want a smaller, 4'/5' tree. Measure your ceiling so the tip of your tree is the perfect height.
Find a planter for your tree. Call parks departments, landscapers, property managers, developers, golf courses, schools, churches, or run a free online ad (craigslist) or local newspaper classified ad to sell your tree or give it away. You may be able to find a planter who will buy your tree, you can ask for the price you bought it for or on down to $10. If not, ask them about donating your potted Christmas tree to them. They might pick it up, or you'd drop it off to them. They'll probably pick it up, people want trees to plant.
Then purchase and take your tree home. Once you purchase your tree, there are a few ways we suggest transporting it. We recommend standing it up in the trunk of a car, it sticks out the trunk. A car with a trunk is best. Have the person you buy it from tie the branches so the tree is thinner and branches donīt break, like in photos below. Tie trunk of car down with a short string or rope. Laying it down in a pickup truck, hatchback or van spreads the needles around and makes you lean and reach, and the tree must be prevented from rolling so it doesn't spill dirt.
Set it up. Make sure you have help during the unloading process. The roots make 7' trees weigh up to 180 pounds. Another helpful hint is to wrap an old bath towel wrapped around the rootball / pot as you lift it from the car. Lay the tree back when carrying it, like itīs in a cradle.
Let it grow. After the holidays, the planter you have arranged will either pick up your tree if you give it to them or you can deliver it to your planter. They'll plant your tree to grow old. You can visit it if you know exactly where it is.
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