Christmas Trees.

Christmas Trees don't come fresher than this! Choose and cut your own free range Nordmann or Fraser Fir from our woodland.

This year we have simplified everything. You find a tree, leave a person by it, come and grab the tagging staff, return to the tree and then we are done. No rows, no areas, nothing to remember. You just come along at collection times and cut your tree.

At collection time we suggest you bring a pair of bungees or two 5m lengths of paracord to attach your tree to the roof of the car. Bungees for cars with roof rails or racks, paracord for those with no roof rails. Trees really should only be netted for bulk transport, 100 to a pallet. A fresh tree is not going to scratch the paint on the roof and a net isn't going to stop needles falling off in the car. Your tree is not going to suffer from a short journey on the roof, they originate from areas where the winter winds exceed 50mph and don't get damaged.

Are Nordmann and Fraser firs needle fast? No, no they are not. No Christmas tree is needle fast. They will drop needles just like every other tree if you overheat it or dry it out. They don't have as many needles as spruce trees so even when they are suffering drought they don't appear to drop needles.

We will, as always, provide care instructions but you do need to have a reservoir stand and be happy to add the cheapest lemonade you can find to the water. Treat your tree like a cut flower. It likes water, sugar and carbon dioxide. When you get your tree home you can leave it in the garden or garage for several days before bringing it in. When you do bring it in, you must cut another couple of cm off the base to allow it to start sucking up water again. Just like cut flowers.

What if my tree dies, do you have a warranty? It starts dying the very second you cut it. You are just delaying the drought for as long as possible by treating it like a cut flower. We can't offer any sort of warranty as we don't have any control over the environment you place it in. If you follow the instructions we provide, that gives the best chance of longevity in your home.

Join the tree cutting community.

Please email us to request a selection slot by clicking here and filling in the blanks.

Replies will come from admin@williamswood.co.uk so keep an eye on your junk or spam box. Some email transports will mark it as spam marketing, as will some mail apps, and this is not a setting we can control. We can only see that we sent an email, not what happened to it after it left.

The email you get from us will have a ticket with a big red number on it. That number is allocated to a date, either am or pm, as your selection slot. They are allocated in order of receipt of emails from you. If you can't make the allocated slot, please tell us and we will try and fit you in somewhere else if we can.. Any revisions to instructions will also be included on our email to you.

Prices.

Remember that Christmas Trees shouldn't be measured to the top, they are measured from the ground to the crown so the growing tip is free, which is fair since most get cut back to fit an angel or star on.

Pot grown for replanting £10.00
4ft - 5ft £16.00
5ft - 6ft £20.00
6ft - 7ft £24.00
7ft - 8ft £28.00
8ft - 9ft £32.00
9ft - 10ft £36.00
10ft - 11ft £40.00
11ft - 12ft £44.00
Bigger trees £60.00

We will send you an invoice with your collection details, please ensure that you settle the invoice before attempting collection. We aren't going to let trees leave unless there is a matched invoice.

How to care for your real tree.

The most important thing to remember is your tree is dead the minute you cut it and all you can do is prolong the time it takes to dry out, go brown and drop all its needles. Do not believe anyone who suggests any tree is non-drop. They all drop their needles when suffering drought. Follow these instructions.

Make sure you have a reservoir container that is the right size for your tree. Rather than buying an expensive stand, get a builders bucket, a cardboard box it will fit in and a bag of pea gravel. Decorate the box. Put the bucket in the box and put 3 inches of pea gravel in the bottom, this is important, since the bottom of the tree shouldn't touch the bottom of the bucket.
You can store your tree outdoors for a week or in the garage for a few days.
Once you are ready to install your tree you must cut about an inch, 2.5cm, off the bottom. This is like treating it as a cut flower. It opens up the tubes that suck up water from the reservoir.
Put it in a reservoir stand and once the trunk is clamped fill the reservoir with water. If you are using the bucket, have someone hold the tree straight while you pour the rest of the pea gravel into the bucket and tamp it down. Fill to about three quarters full with gravel. Then add water to the bucket and stop just as it comes above the level of the gravel.
You will need to top up the tree daily. Our tree in 2019 consumed 4 litres of water a day.
Add lemonade as a 1:1 mix. For every litre of water, give it a litre of lemonade. Cheapest is best. This is like the food that comes with cut flowers.
Heating is your tree's enemy. Underfloor heating or a log burner are the most effective way of drying it out, followed by being placed in front of a radiator which is turned on. Our regular customers all have the hang of this and rarely see any ill effects.

Selection dates for 2024.

Please try to arrive at the beginning of your selection slot rather than towards the end since we will be strict with the gate opening and closure times so we can release staff to breaks and warm rooms.

Please note that we don't allow dogs into the woodland under any circumstances.

Car park gates open at 09:45 and close at 12:15 for the morning session.

Car park gates open at 12:45 and close at 15:15 for the afternoon session.

If you arrive too close to the end of your session to reasonably be processed you should reasonably expect to to wait for the next session. Consider it to be the same as missing a bus.

26th October 10:00 until 12:00.
26th October 13:00 until 15:00.
28th October 10:00 until 12:00.
28th October 13:00 until 15:00.
2nd November 10:00 until 12:00.
2nd November 13:00 until 15:00.

Tree cutting dates are:

01 Dec 2024 until 24 Dec 2024. Carpark opens at 09:45. Pedestrian gates and the central office open at 10:00 for saw collection. If you wish to net your tree for transport, the nets will be available but our staff may not always be able to assist you. The central office closes at 16:00. Pedestrian gates close at 16:10. Carpark closes at 16:30.

If you haven't selected your tree already, we are unlikely to be able to accommodate you alongside those who have. We suggest heading to Tarvin Sands and buying from them.

FAQs

Over the years there have been lots of questions and some rather odd comments which we shall answer and address here.

Q)Why can't we just turn up and cut a tree in December?
A) We did that ONCE. It was mayhem! People cut a tree, saw a better one, dumped the first one and took the second one. Wastage was immense. People went head to head over a tree and they each had a saw. We learned never to do that again.
Q) Where do your Christmas trees come from?
A) The original trees came from a mix. Some we grew from seeds and others were bought as 2u2 seedlings. Since 2012 we have been collecting seeds from our own trees and plant those to create 4000 seedlings a year.
Q) You don't grow the Christmas Trees do you? You just buy them in and make them look as though they grow there.
A) We are not sure why anyone would do that as a business model. The time and labour required to remove trees from a pallet, take their nets off, dig holes, stand trees straight, tamp the soil back down and then keep them watered would be immense. The questioner probably didn't think it through before making the statement on social media.
Q) Why can't I bring my dog in, it's supposed to be a woodland?
A) It is a woodland but that doesn't confer any special rights upon dog owners. We don't have a dog bag fairy that removes bags hanging in trees. We don't like the idea of our big mowers atomising a steaming pile of fresh dog muck on the path and making it easy to inhale. Not everyone else is used to dogs. Not all dogs tolerate other dogs. But most importantly, it's our back yard and we get to decide.