Zamzows has been selling Christmas trees in the Treasure Valley for more than 80 years.
This year the long-time business that helps people with lawn care, gardening and taking care of pets wanted to offer a more sustainable way to offer people Christmas trees.
"This is a finite resource," said Joss Zamzow. "It takes a lot of effort to grow these trees only to be cut down and thrown away so we have seen a lot of people this year interested in doing a tree they planted and we are thrilled to help them."
There is a process to purchasing a live tree in a pot to ensure it survives through Christmas so people can plant the tree and have it thrive after the holidays.
"A tree that you purchase today you would take home and put in the garage for about a week so that it could start getting acclimated to slightly warmer temperatures, but not as warm as the living room," said Zamzow. "We do that for about a week."
With about a week to go until Christmas that is when people can bring the potted tree into the living room and decorate it like any other tree.
"And then the day after Christmas we take the decorations off and we put it back in the garage to let it transition back to being cold," said Zamzow.
Joss also told us now would be a good time to dig the hole where the tree will live because if you wait until after Christmas the ground might be frozen.
These trees do cost more than a cut tree people could buy at Zamzows, but live trees can be a welcomed addition to a yard for years to come creating memories from the 2021 Christmas season.
"They are a little more expensive than you typically would pay but again you will have the memory of the tree forever," said Zamzow. "Feel free to stop at any of our stores and we can help you walk through all the steps so you got it just right so the tree will do well."
It is important for people who purchase a tree to continually water the tree throughout the holiday season.
The northwest is also coming off the heels of a drought and the constant threat of wildfires that seem to get worse every year, Joss told us people should not wait too long to get their tree this year no matter which type they choose.
Live trees also go along with the City of Trees Challenge, an initiative started by the City of Boise to plant 100,000 trees over the next decade.
If you do buy a live tree and plant it you can register it so the city can count it and to do that you can click here.
