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Hi everyone!
I am getting ready for my last Christmas on the mainland and I thought of something- are there Christmas trees in Oahu? Are they much more expensive than trees here? I know it sounds silly but I love decorating for the holidays! Thanks!
I'm on Maui, but I can assure you we have Christmas trees on all the islands. They're shipped from the mainland, though, and you'll pay more and have fewer kinds/sizes to choose from.
This time of year is when I spend an extra few minutes at KTA after grocery shopping...just standing outside where the Christmas trees are, breathing in the smell of the fresh trees!
We've always gotten our trees from Home Depot, though...
christmas trees are a plenty on o'ahu at various locations from home improvement warehouses to grocery stores. prices vary, of course. there was, however, a shipment that was sent back to the mainland (forgot the state) due to slug infestation.
We've got a Norfolk Island Pine since there is a lot of room for ornaments between the branches. It lives in a pot and gets dragged inside several weeks out of the year. It is almost time to start a replacement tree since this one is getting about seven feet tall. We lace the branches with rosemary branches so it even smells sort of like a pine tree. We also cut the rosemary bush to make wreaths. After Christmas the wreath can be used when making pizza, too. You can get small potted Norfolk pines for several dollars at a garden store and then just let them grow. Start a new one every three or four years. Saves tons on buying a new tree every year, Christmas trees are expensive here.
Wow, what a great idea, hotzcatz! We have a Norfolk pine in the yard but it's WAY too big to trim. Still, as you suggest, we could get a new little one, grow it in a pot for a few years, use it as a tree for a while until it gets too big, then plant it. In a while we'll have a forest in our yard (or maybe we can sell them when they get too big... even better!)
Bright idea award to Hotzcatz!! I'd give you rep for that one if I could.
Yup, you can plant them in your yard, let them grow a bit then sell the top. They will regrow a new top so you can sell them again later, too.
It wasn't my idea, it was someone in Kailua on Oahu way back when. That whole hillside of Norfolk Island trees planted on the right as you go out of Kailua towards the Pali started out as Christmas trees. One person planted their leftover Christmas tree there one year and then the next year there were several more and now there are many.
My neighbor has about a dozen Norfolk Island pines planted as a windbreak. Each year her son goes up one and whacks the top off of one. It then resprouts and starts growing a new top so in twelve years when it is that one's turn again, the new Christmas tree will be ready. Another person down the road has a Norfolk Island pine hedge sort of, there are a lot of them in his yard and they sell the tops off of several of them each Christmas. They grow back again, so you can sell your Christmas tree and still have it, too.
Potted rosemary bushes can be bought at the garden center and trimmed into a Christmas tree shape if you only have room for a very small tree. We did that on the boat on occasion since there wasn't much room.
How big is the Norfolk in your yard? We've one I'd love to trim, but there's no getting to the top of that one.
careful when planting pine trees: sorry to say, but we had to ask our neighbor to remove theirs that they had had for decades because we were putting in a new concrete driveway. the root system caused damage to the then hollow tile wall and the old black top driveway. very costly to both parties.
also, our other neighbor is now building a new home (almost completed) and their contractor told them that their pine tree had to be removed as well. i believe they will be putting in a rock wall.
True, they do grow pretty big. The one in the back yard is huge but it was here long before I was and will probably still be there long after I'm gone. Someone did want to buy it, cut it down and make it into lumber or bowls or something, but it is fine just where it is. If it was cut down it would leave a stump about three feet across and I'm sure that tree is one reason the dirt is still there, otherwise it would have fallen down the mountain already.
Are there any Christmas tree farms on the island, do you know? There is the fellow who has a few Norfolks growing in his yard, but I'd think up the mountain it would get cold enough that mainland type Christmas trees would grow?
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