On Tuesday, December 29, 2015 at 9:52:54 AM UTC-5, Mark Storkamp wrote:
In article ,
DerbyDad03 wrote:

On Monday, December 28, 2015 at 9:41:48 AM UTC-5, trader_4 wrote:
On Monday, December 28, 2015 at 5:59:28 AM UTC-5, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On Mon, 28 Dec 2015 03:13:54 -0500, wrote:

A friend and I are debating when most people buy their xmas trees.

I saw that it's several days or more before Christmas eve, and the
proof of this is that is what I do. And that tree lots open up about
2 weeks in advance.

She says, No, the custom is Xmas eve and the great majority buy that
afternoon. And the proof is that is what she does.

What can you tell us about this?

Your friend is nuts. I've seen a couple of places sold out a few days
before Christmas. You should bring the tree in and let it acclimate
for 24 hours anyway.

We bought our tree in October. It sat in the box until the week after
Thanksgiving. Old tree was well over 25 years!

I'd say maybe they are both nuts. Typically trees around here start
being available a month before Xmas. And while I can't prove it, I'd
say it's probably a bell curve, few bought a month before, few bought
the day before Xmas, it probably peaks ~10 days or so before Xmas.

According to this site "The weekend after Thanksgiving is traditionally
when most Christmas tree buying occurs."

http://forestry.about.com/od/christm.../xtree_buy.htm

According to this website "There's no definitive answer... Many people
plump for the second Saturday in December. Traditionally, Roman Catholics
waited until after noon on Christmas Eve to put up their tree."

http://www.theguardian.com/money/201...christmas-tree

Having grown up with many Roman Catholic families, including my own, I can
not vouch for the "after noon on Christmas Eve" tradition. Never heard of it,
never experienced it.

The British Christmas Tree Growers Association (BCTGA) suggests that
trees "should not be purchased earlier than 1 December".

According to the Purdue University Department of Forestry and Natural
Resources "A fresh-cut, real Christmas tree is generally serviceable
from just after Thanksgiving to somewhat after Christmas, if it is
truly fresh when set up and then well cared for."

I wonder what Purdue considers to be 'after Christmas'. Traditionally
Christmas lasts until the feast of the epiphany on Jan 6. And since the
4 weeks prior to Christmas day are the season of advent, the Catholic
tradition has been to wait until after the last Sunday of advent to
decorate the tree. But now it just seems anytime after halloween will do.



The article I quoted does not get any more specific than "somewhat after
Christmas".

https://www.extension.purdue.edu/ext.../fnr-423-w.pdf

We keep our tree up until at least Jan 7th. That is the anniversary
of SWMBO's late father's birthday, so that has become a tradition of
sorts.

After the 7th, it's based on the condition of the tree. Some years we
go away for longer than the stand can hold water, so the tree has to
go sooner. This year, the stand has stayed full all season, so it may
be mid to late January before we recycle it back into the woods.

When my kids were young, I had an open utility trailer. Our town had a
recycling weekend when they would accept trees at the Nature Center and
grind them up to make ground cover for the paths through the center. My
kids and I would drive around the neighborhood picking up the trees that
people put out on the curb. We would make multiple trips with 8 - 10
trees in the trailer. The volunteers always appreciated it and often
took pictures to include in their brochure. One year a local news station
had a crew there so we got on TV as part of their coverage.