Best places to buy a Christmas Tree in Bristol
Why does it get dark really early this time of year? So that your Christmas lights can be on for longer of course! (No that isn’t meant to be a Christmas cracker joke)
With Bonfire night over and Christmas around the corner it’s time to start getting excited about everyone’s favourite holiday. Whether you have a yearly display competition with your neighbour or you are a little more subtle with your festivities, a tree is a must for any jolly holiday home. But where is the best place to get one?
In a hurry?
> Skip to the best places to buy your Christmas Tree here.
For me Christmas isn’t Christmas without the smell of a real tree in the living room. Add the benefits of supporting local forests and the lower impact on the environment than a plastic tree, then you really are spreading good cheer.
Picking a reel tree is an event in itself too, and a tradition a lot of families have enjoyed for generations. Wrapping up warm with a mulled wine or hot choc, wandering through tree lots or woods to find ‘your tree’ is something I remember well from my youth and is an exciting part of family Christmas fun.
There are often a variety of species to choose from so before we get into the places themselves, here are some characteristics of common Christmas Trees that you may find useful:
Types of Christmas Tree
Fraser Fir
Fraser Fir Christmas Trees are generally a narrower tree which makes them perfect for a smaller room. With green silvery soft short needles and that classic Christmas tree scent, they are great for young families or people with less space.
Nordmann Fir
The Nordmann Fir “Non-Drop” is renowned for its needle retention. This glossy green Christmas tree has soft needles making it a great choice for families with young children or pets. It’s traditional shape and practicality make this a very popular tree.
Norway Spruce
This is the most traditional Christmas tree and has dark green spiky needles and a beautiful Christmas tree scent. Although sometimes criticised for it’s needle drop, if cut fresh they can have fantastic needle retention.
Noble Fir
The Noble or ‘Red’ Fir has stiff branches so it supports heavy ornaments well (perfect for Aunt Mables homemade baubles). It is often used to make wreaths, Christmas garlands and door swags as well. This species retains its needles well, making it ideal for a home with small children or pets.
Best places for Christmas Trees in Bristol
So ho ho, now you have your arborists hat on, here is a list of some of the best places in Bristol to find your perfect Christmas tree for 2021.
Ali & Joe’s
Nutgrove Ave, Bristol BS3 4DP
Trees from £25
Nothing gets more festive than Ali and Joe’s when it comes to trees. A great couple of guys full of festive cheer. With both popup sale venues and a very popular online store, they will deliver anything up to a 10ft tree if you have the ceiling for it. Customers can select a date and time slot of their choosing making it a very convenient solution. More recently they have introduced a new Christmas tree rental service where you can rent a potted Christmas tree for the season and then have it collected in January.
If you want to select a tree yourself, they can be found at the following locations with the largest selection of trees in South Bristol:
Dates for 2021
Bristol Venues:
Victoria Park
Victoria Park, Bedminster
Saturdays 10am-4pm
Sundays 10am-2:30pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th Dec
Sat 11th & Sun 12th Dec
The Tobacco Factory, Southville
Saturdays 10am-4pm
Sundays 10am-2:30pm
Sat 4th & Sun 5th Dec
Sat 11th & Sun 12th Dec
Bath Venues:
Beechen Cliff Methodist Church, Bear Flat 9am-1pm
Sat 4th Dec from 9am
The dynamic duo also offer a unique collection service and will pop round to pick up your tree post Christmas to “responsibly recycle” it. Online delivery is free for postcodes Bristol postcodes BS1 to BS16. Ali and Joe support a number of local charities and organisations so are a good choice and win points for Christmas spirit. Visit their website for more information.
Bristol Christmas Trees
The Steam Crane Pub, 4 – 6 North Street, Bedminster BS3 1HT
Trees from £36
Open daily from the 26th of November, you will find this festive forest taking over the pub garden outside the Steam Crane Pub in Bedminster. The partnership offers a great place to find your tree and grab a mulled wine, mulled cider or roasted chestnuts at the same time (or maybe a sneaky pre or post tree hunt pint – or both, why not it’s Christmas).
The trees are “double A graded” and freshly cut and sourced from local suppliers. The Nordmann Firs are typically known for their soft, luxuriant foliage (adding a child-friendly factor as well) and reliably symmetrical shape. With glossy, forest-green needles and great needle retention this beautiful tree, with proper care should last all holiday. You can even purchase a UK manufactured reusable tree stand, with a built in water tray, to keep your tree going all holiday.
Sizes start at 4ft for £36 and go up in half foot increments to 8ft at £72 so you should find something to fit your home perfectly.
The staff are very friendly and will also offer home delivery if you can’t manage it yourself. It’s a very fun and festive place to find your tree and well suited to the whole family.
Clifton Christmas Trees
College Road, West Car Park, Bristol Zoo
http://www.cliftontrees.co.uk/
If you don’t fancy venturing out to find a tree yourself, Clifton Christmas trees offer a home delivery service right up until the 22nd of December. Based at Bristol Zoo their variety of trees are all grown locally on the slopes of the Mendips and cut fresh daily throughout December.
From their website you can see the varieties they have on offer – Nordman Fir, Noble Fir, Fraser Fir and the traditional Norway Spruce. You can even get a living ‘grown in the pot’ Norway Spruce although most of these do come from Scotland and only a few are grown locally.
They deliver to all Bristol areas and there is an extra £10-£15 charge depending on the distance.
White Christmas Tree Farm
Filton Road, Frenchay BS16 1QG/40&42 Gloucester Road, Bishopston BS7 8AR
https://www.whitechristmastreefarm.co.uk/
Trees from £49
With two locations for you to go and pick your own tree and the option of delivery (up to 8ft trees) plus a selection of wreaths and stands, you can find whatever you need at Whote Christmas Tree Farm. On offer are traditional Norway Spruce, Nordman Fir and Fraser Fir in a variety of sizes.
The Frenchay farm site opens from the 22nd of November daily from 8am to 9pm offering you late evening adventures. Look for the Giant Santa off the M32 slip road! Lots of parking, under canopy forests and flood nights make it a magical experience in the darker hours and any weather.
The Gloucester Road site also opens daily but from the 24th of November and only 9am to 6pm. A City Centre alternative you won’t get the same Christmas bells and whistles here but there will be plenty of trees and friendly staff to help you.
If you are interested they also supply wholesale, so if you have your own store or want to rent for a shop display you can give them a ring.
Sheepway Christmas Trees
Springfield House, Sheepway, Portbury, Bristol BS20 7TE
https://www.sheepwaychristmastrees.com/
Trees from £22
A family affair of over 30 years, the Hardwick’s have been supplying Christmas magic to Bristol homes from their 50 acres of freshly grown trees in the Quantok hills for decades. Cut as late as possible and brought down to Sheepway from their farm you will find quality trees with great needle retention.
Probably the most reasonably priced trees on the list, you can pick up Fraser Firs, Nordmann Firs and Norway spruce from 0.6ft to 11ft all grown in nearby Somerset. You will find cut and pot grown options as well as a selection of wreaths and stands.
Open daily from 10am to 5.30pm from the 21st of November, they are one of the earliest to open and offer a click and collect service via their website.
They also run a yearly campaign where you can nominate someone who deserves the gift of a free tree. Check out their website for more information and how to nominate someone this Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Well that about wraps it up (pun intended) for our list of best places to buy a Christmas Tree. Hopefully that has put you in the mood to get the festivities started, after all some Christmas cheer is very much needed this year so the earlier the better. And if you can’t stand any Christmas talk before December then Bah Humbug to you, go get a mince pie and cheer up, it’s Christmas!
