Sometimes I think it's really the hot cider that I like most at Christmas tree farms. But there's also the chance of thin gingerbread cookies being offered from inside a woodshed with an electric heater and a dusty braided rug. And then, of course, there are the trees themselves and the hunting for the perfect one, bucksaw in hand, being ready at any moment to fell the exemplar.
But living in New York City without an apartment that's big enough to accommodate even the smallest cut specimen, I haven't visited a tree farm in a few years. This year, instead of filling my winter window boxes with wintry cuttings, I decided to create a kind of Christmas tree farm in miniature, right on my Brooklyn windowsill.
Photographs by Erin Boyle. Photography shot with the Canon EOS 70D digital SLR camera, with Dual Pixel AF technology and built-in Wi-Fi.
Above: My tree of choice? Tiny Eurocypress trees. Two-inch potted Eurocypress were available for just $2.50 each on 28th Street and I scooped up a half dozen. I haven't found a great online source, but check with your local florist; chances are you'll find them near the poinsettia.
Above: To get the spacing right, I lay my tiny trees sideways in the window box before digging holes.
Above: To ensure the young plants last through the season, I loosened the roots before planting.
Above: In my larger box, I placed three slightly larger trees, among them a Mediterranean Blue Cypress I found at the flower market (a similar tree is available in 4.5-inch and 6-inch pots for from $7.99 to $19.99 at Hirt's Garden) and a beautiful wispy cypress that I found at GRDN.
Above: To add a floral touch to all that greenery, I added a cold-hardy helleborus. Rather than squeeze the plant into a too-small window box, I potted one up in White Clay Pot from Ben Wolff and propped it nearby. A whole slew of hellebore options are available online from Plant Delights Nursery; the similar Helleborus niger 'HGC Josef Lemperer' is $16.
Above: A tiny but noble cypress next to my white helleborus.
Above: Five tiny trees make one tiny forest.
Above: The view from one window ledge to the other.
Above: My miniature forest, braving sleet and snow and wintry gusts of cold air.
Above: And what else are you supposed to but bedeck a tiny forest with tiny lights? Mine, a string of Starry String Lights from Restoration Hardware; 15 feet for $35.
Have room enough for a full-size tree? See DIY: Plant Your Christmas Tree in the Garden and Wanted Dead or Alive: The Perfect Christmas Tree.