These days, you can rent just about everything—Segways, leprechauns, little people, sheep, dogs. And here in the UK, a very clever and environmentally concerned businessman came up with a brilliant idea: Rent out Christmas trees for the holiday season.
The whole thing works like this: The renter orders a tree, choosing between three models (the Fraser fir, the Norway spruce, and the Nordmann fir), in sizes between 5 and 8 feet tall. The tree is then delivered to the customer’s door in a pot, most of its roots intact, and bearing special tree food that will keep it healthy during its stint indoors. When Christmas is over, the presents all opened, the seeds of familial angst sown, grown and harvested, and life settles back down to normal, the trees are taken back to the wild, where they can be enjoyed by wildlife and humans who prefer their trees in the ground for another year.
Martin Cake (pictured) is the man behind the plan, the self-styled Christmas Tree Man who spent 20 years as a tree surgeon before starting the company. He launched the business in late 2008, and currently owns a 500-tree farm in Dorset. Cakes says that his dream is a Christmas that sees the survival of all trees—a tree, his website says, is for life, not just for Christmas. And renting a living tree is a positive step towards preserving the environment, and is even safer than cut trees—they’re less likely to tip over, owing to the heavy pots they live in, and less likely to catch fire, since they’re not all dried out. Even better, minimal shedding.
The trees actually spend most of their lives in the pots they arrive at your door in and are kept alive by a drip-feed water system. If you become attached to a particular tree, Cake will tag it so you can rent it again the following year. Once it gets too big for home use, which will ultimately happen, the trees can move on to bigger environs, such as schools and businesses.
Thus far, the jury is out on whether we’ll be ordering our tree from the Christmas Tree Man. My husband isn’t yet convinced that my motives are actually environmental concern and not just because I saw this cool thing on the Internet. But it’s either this, or I’m dressing the cat in green felt and sticking a star on his head. And evidently, it isn’t a bit premature to start thinking about where our tree will be coming from—without the dam of Thanksgiving, Christmas madness actually started flowing back in early October here in the UK. They take these things very seriously over here.
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Does a service like this exist in the US? Anyone ever tried it?
Comments (15)
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I don’t know if this service exists here in the US, but I like it!
posted by Wendy on 12-1-2009 at 1:11 pm
I heard of a guy in British Columbia that had/has a similar service but with no repeats. Once the tree is picked up after Christmas it is planted somewhere to enjoy a life of religious freedom. I just untape the box and put up my tree for 14 days and back in the box and out to the shed. Done deal!
posted by Brad in Canada on 12-1-2009 at 1:13 pm
I love this idea!! I’m going to see if they do this in the Chicago area…
posted by Lovely on 12-1-2009 at 1:18 pm
I love it! I wish this was available in the US.
posted by Sarah in CA on 12-1-2009 at 1:42 pm
We have never rented a tree (interesting concept), but we have bought live trees that are dug and balled (like this guy’s), and then re-planted it in our own yard. Sometimes they survive replanting, and sometimes they don’t but I believe it’s the smarter way to have a live tree.
posted by hyacinth on 12-1-2009 at 2:46 pm
I’ve seen this done by a garden center in central Maryland. I think that they keep the trees and reuse them year to year.
posted by botanycreek on 12-1-2009 at 2:54 pm
Finally! I am amazed no one thought of this before! It is such a shame the trees are cut just so they can be decorated and discarded.
posted by septerr on 12-1-2009 at 6:43 pm
There’s a service like this in Los Angeles. I’m renting a tree from them for the first time this year:
http://livingchristmas.com/index.php
posted by David on 12-1-2009 at 11:42 pm
When I was stationed in Japan in the late 60s, the Japanese Government would allow Americans or others so inclined to “use” for free a tree, with stipulations: you had to dig it up with roots yourself, and after the holiday you had to replant it back where you got it from. You needed a permit to do this, which was also free. BUT, if the tree did not survive and did not live after being uprooted or replanted, then you were required to pay for the equivalent value of board feet of lumber that tree may have produced when full grown. Trees and lumber were in very short supply back then, but they tried to work with those who wished to have a live tree for the holidays. But the Japanese wanted the trees to stay alive. Made good sense all around. I only know of two trees that did not survive and were paid for. I have heard now that you can have professionals do this for you, and you can even purchase tree insurance in case the tree dies. So the idea goes back at least 50 years, anyway.
posted by thumperm79 on 12-2-2009 at 2:50 am
They have had that service in Ireland for as long as i can remember, you also have the option of replanting the tree in your own garden
posted by sookieboo on 12-2-2009 at 5:37 am
Hi everyone,
yes my husband and I LOVED the idea and as we live in UK we ordered one,guess what?The day of the delivery NO TREE so we rang the man who after 2 days rang back saying he was sorry but he could not deliver the trees for the bad weather and he would have sent our money back .YEAH SURE!!!!! We have tried to ring,send e-mails ,went to see him,asked to his last employer who told us how hundreds of people have been robbed by him.We are astonished as the most important newspapers talk about him,we tried to warn the radio who gave the news and some newspapers but of course nobody is interested.We found out that a lot of other people are still waiting for their money back……If you find a service like this in US be very careful .
posted by Ros on 1-29-2010 at 3:54 pm
Renting trees in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Thousand Oaks, San Jose, Santa Cruz mountains. Living Christmas tree rentals, deliveered in strudy basepop with easy care instructions. Prestrung with twinkle lights on request. Reduced fire hazard. Lasts longer.
Since 1991 Plantman service http://plantman.com has rented perfect living Christmas trees.
posted by ecmanning on 4-10-2010 at 3:35 pm
Event Rental and Plant Service Company http://plantman.com is accepting advanced orders for delivery of perfect living (live) trees. Majestic grade 7′ trees, living air freshener, stable basepot, convenient delivery and pick-up.
posted by ecmanning on 7-17-2010 at 10:12 pm
I just found a place in Chicago. I haven’t used it yet nor heard any reviews. But it’s an option. http://www.rootsforchristmas.com/
It’s a bit more expensive than other cities, at $100.
But it is helping to green the city afterwards.
posted by kristina on 12-6-2010 at 7:47 pm
We have a garden center in Mundelien Il. and do this on a limited basis. We generally lease out the tree at 50% of the purchase price- i.e. a 5 foot spruce would rent for around $25. You may purchase the tree for planting at a discount after the holidays, or return it to the nursery. You may call us at 847.566-2176 for more info. Thanks!
The Country Bumpkin Garden Center
Gilmer & Hawley Road
Mundelein Il.
posted by waverunnr on 12-16-2010 at 7:05 pm