Young’s taking reservations to cut your own tree
Carl and Dorothy Young’s Christmas Tree Farm, located at 4968 U.S. 68 just north of Yellow Springs, is taking reservations this year for guests to cut their own trees to offset large crowds on opening weekend.
“In the last two years, we were experiencing large crowds on the first weekend, and we didn’t feel it was a good experience for our customers because they were actually parking out on the road and then we couldn’t get everybody in the parking lot,” said Ben Young, who owns the tree farm with his wife, Pam.
He explained guests can go to their website (www.youngschristmastreefarm.com) and reserve a day and time for $5 to cut their own Christmas tree. Dates available include Friday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 27 and Friday, Dec. 2 through Sunday, Dec. 4 but spots are beginning to fill up.
“We have sold about 30% of the reservations so far,” Young said.
The reservation system opened Oct. 1.
He said the demand for their Christmas trees is growing faster than the trees themselves.
Christmas trees take about eight years to grow, Young said. He explained he has 26,000 spots in the field but tries to sell about ⅛ of their trees each year to sustain the business.
The tree farm has four main types of trees including Concolor Fir, White Pine, Norway Spruce and Canaan Fir, which is the most popular, Young said. Prices start at $75 and depending on size and variety, go up to $105.
Young said he enjoys being a part of a holiday tradition for many families.
“It’s fun to see families come out and the kids select the tree and then we help put it on the car and send them home,” Young said. “What we’re trying to do here is create an opportunity for families to spend the day together and have a nice experience.”
The tree farm also has precut trees and a gift shop that does not require reservations. The gift shop will be open noon to 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 25 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 26 and Sunday, Nov. 27. The hours will be the same the following weekend.
For more information about the tree farm, visit www.youngschristmastreefarm.com or its Facebook page.