Nothing smells like Christmas the way a real pine tree does. In Whangārei you can still walk between rows of trees, pick your own and take it home the same day. Here is where to go, when to go, and how to keep a tree looking good through a Northland December.
Crane Road Christmas Trees, Kauri
Crane Road Christmas Trees is a family tree farm at 553 Crane Road in Kauri, a short drive north of Kamo. The Bird family grows around a thousand trees there and opens the farm to the public so families can wander the rows and choose their own. Growing Christmas trees runs in the family, and it shows: the trees are pruned into shape through the year, which is why they look like the ones in picture books.
It is set up as an outing, not just a shop. There are decorations, a very Christmassy feel, and on weekends Santa is there for photos.
- When it opens: in 2025 the opening day was the last Friday of November. Check their page for this year's date and hours.
- Go early in the season. In recent years the trees have sold out by early December.
- Bring a vehicle the tree will fit in or on, an old sheet for the needles, and rope or tie-downs.
- The farm has wheelchair access and accessible parking, according to the council's event listing.
Other places to find a real tree
- Puketona Christmas Tree Farm, near Paihia, grows thousands of trees each year and is the other big grower in Northland. Worth it if you are in the Bay of Islands.
- Charity tree sales: in past years ambulance and rescue helicopter volunteers have sold trees in Whangārei in the weeks before Christmas. Watch local noticeboards and community pages from late November.
- Garden centres and roadside stalls stock cut trees and potted ones from the start of December.
Cut tree or living tree?
A cut pine gives you the smell and the classic look for about three weeks. A potted living tree, such as a small pōhutukawa, a Norfolk pine or a potted conifer, can come back inside every year and live on the deck in between. For a small house or a first Christmas in a flat, a potted tree on a table is plenty.
How to keep a real tree alive in a Northland summer
Heat is the enemy. A tree in a warm lounge can drink more than a litre of water a day.
- Ask for a fresh cut across the base when you buy it, or saw two centimetres off yourself before it goes in the stand.
- Get it into water within a couple of hours. A bucket with stones or bricks works if you do not have a stand.
- Top up the water every day. If the base dries out it seals over and stops drinking.
- Keep it out of direct afternoon sun and away from the heat pump.
- Use LED lights. They run cool and are safer on a drying tree.
- Expect needles. Put a sheet under the tree skirt and the clean-up in January takes one minute.
What it costs
Prices change each year with the size of the tree, and farms post them when they open. As a guide, plan for a real tree to cost more than a small artificial one but far less than a big one, and remember you are also paying for an afternoon out.
Turn tree day into a tradition
Choosing the tree can be the day your Christmas starts. Take a photo in the same spot at the farm each year, let the youngest pick the angel or star, and play the same album on the drive home. Our Christmas photo guide for Whangārei has more on getting a picture everyone likes.
That evening, with the tree up and the lights on, is a good time for the phone to ring. Santa can call and tell your child he hears they have just put the tree up.
After Christmas
Take the tree down by Twelfth Night if you follow tradition, or when it starts to drop. Cut pine can be chopped for garden mulch or taken to green waste. Do not burn it in an indoor fireplace: dry pine needles flare up fast.