At Santa’s Christmas Tree Forest, you have the unique opportunity to Choose and Cut a real Florida Christmas tree right out of the field. That’s right…we provide the saw, we provide the live tree and you do the cutting! Hop on board our hayride and we will give you a tour of our 15 acres of Christmas trees. That’s over 15,000 trees to choose from!
Once on board the hayride, you can raise your hand to stop the ride when you find a good spot. Upon disembarking, we’ll provide you with a saw and a measuring pole. Height is sometimes deceiving in the field, and there is nothing worse than accidentally purchasing a 9-foot tree when you have 8-foot ceilings!
Take your time wandering through our beautiful forest until you find that perfect tree. Carefully saw it down and drag it into one of the wide tractor aisles. Our driver will come and pick you and your tree up, with the tree riding in our special tree caboose, and bring you back to the processing area.
Three types of Choose and Cut trees are planted in our fields: the Sand Pine, the Arizona Cypress, and the Red Cedar. All trees are priced by the foot starting at a $15 minimum for a 4 foot tree and under. Please refer to our pricing chart located by the tree processing area for exact pricing on the day of your visit.
At the tree processing area, your tree will be measured and then placed in a shaker to shake any dead needles and critters out of it. You may choose to have your tree baled with netting for a small charge to make it more manageable to handle. We also offer to drill a hole in the bottom of your tree which may be used with our unique spike Christmas tree stands.
Sand Pine
The Sand Pine is our most popular and traditional-looking Florida Christmas tree. Often seen growing wild in many rural Florida areas, the Sand Pine can thrive in almost any soil. These trees grow up to 2 feet per year, and on our farm, we have some trees reaching over 14 feet in height. The needles are up to 3 inches long and a brilliant shade of green. Our trees are sheared 3 times per year to give them a full Christmas-tree shape and are irrigated with miles of buried pipes and water-conserving drip emitters.
Red Cedar
The Red Cedar is an evergreen which is actually a variety of juniper. It can grow 40-50 feet tall and can spread 8-15 feet in a sunny location. The wood of the red cedar is fragrant and the foliage is a bright or dark green. The leaves have sawtooth serrations and are prickly to the touch.
Arizona Cypress
The Arizona Cypress is a fast growing evergreen tree that grows well in the deep south heat. The foliage is lacy and silver-blue. The form is upright, broad and conical with weeping branches. It is a beautiful tree for those wanting something a little different and out of the ordinary.
For more information, please see the National Christmas Tree Association web site or click here to link.
These three varieties of trees are also available in smaller sizes in pots, so that they may be used as live Christmas trees and planted after the season. Please see our Potted Trees page for more information.
