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Talk About Tulsa => Other Tulsa Discussion => Topic started by: TMS on November 30, 2010, 12:50:37 PM

Title: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: TMS on November 30, 2010, 12:50:37 PM
A live one, here in Tulsa. I used to go to the corner of 41st & Harvard, but there's no tree lot there now.

Any ideas as to where one could get a live tree now?  Thanks in advance! 
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on November 30, 2010, 01:11:10 PM
I hate to advocate big box when we can support smaller retailers or seasonal retailers but HD and Lowe's both have plenty right now.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: RecycleMichael on November 30, 2010, 01:13:40 PM
I don't believe in killing trees for Christmas.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on November 30, 2010, 02:34:10 PM
Quote from: RecycleMichael on November 30, 2010, 01:13:40 PM
I don't believe in killing trees for Christmas.
What about Hanukkah?

Quote from: TMS on November 30, 2010, 12:50:37 PM
A live one, here in Tulsa. I used to go to the corner of 41st & Harvard, but there's no tree lot there now.

Any ideas as to where one could get a live tree now?  Thanks in advance! 
There is a tree lot at 91st and Mingo
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on November 30, 2010, 02:37:40 PM
Quote from: custosnox on November 30, 2010, 02:34:10 PM
What about Hanukkah?

I always wanted to shave off my moustache and have a menorah tattooed over my upper lip so I could call it my labia menorah.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on November 30, 2010, 02:41:36 PM
Quote from: Conan71 on November 30, 2010, 02:37:40 PM
I always wanted to shave off my moustache and have a menorah tattooed over my upper lip so I could call it my labia menorah.
sometimes you really disturb me
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: patric on November 30, 2010, 02:43:24 PM
Quote from: TMS on November 30, 2010, 12:50:37 PM
A live one, here in Tulsa. I used to go to the corner of 41st & Harvard, but there's no tree lot there now.

Any ideas as to where one could get a live tree now?  Thanks in advance! 

Do you mean live as in not artificial, or live as in it still has roots in a ball and you can plant it in your yard later?
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on November 30, 2010, 03:01:16 PM
Quote from: custosnox on November 30, 2010, 02:41:36 PM
sometimes you really disturb me

I thought you were disturbed.  ;D
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: PonderInc on November 30, 2010, 03:46:50 PM
OK, while I am not a fan of Owasso, they do have a pretty cool Xmas tree farm up there.  Especially fun if you have kiddos, b/c you can take a little hay ride (wagon pulled by a tractor) around the property and then come inside to warm up with hot apple cider.  In general, there's little reason for me to venture up to "South Tulsa North Christian Sprawl City," but this is one trip that I am willing to make.

http://www.owassochristmastreefarm.com/christmastrees.html (http://www.owassochristmastreefarm.com/christmastrees.html)
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on November 30, 2010, 03:50:53 PM
Quote from: Red Arrow on November 30, 2010, 03:01:16 PM
I thought you were disturbed.  ;D
Conan made me that way
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Hoss on November 30, 2010, 04:08:23 PM
Quote from: TMS on November 30, 2010, 12:50:37 PM
A live one, here in Tulsa. I used to go to the corner of 41st & Harvard, but there's no tree lot there now.

Any ideas as to where one could get a live tree now?  Thanks in advance! 

My extended family (my fathers stepfather) owned that lot at 41st/Harvard.  One of his sons (my uncle) had one for 10+ years south of 71st on Memorial (just before all that was bought out) and I worked that lot three seasons  during my highschool years.  Some of the hardest work I've ever done was unloading the tree truck and augering holes (with a 6 inch bit on a power auger) for 200+ trees.  I got paid pretty well for a 10th grader in 1983..about 6.50 an hour.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: sgrizzle on November 30, 2010, 04:27:24 PM
Quote from: RecycleMichael on November 30, 2010, 01:13:40 PM
I don't believe in killing trees for Christmas.

I don't kill trees for Christmas either, that's why I hire a contract killer.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: heironymouspasparagus on December 01, 2010, 03:55:51 PM
Another vote for Owasso.

Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 05:48:51 PM
Um, aren't these called "holiday" trees now or something?
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 01, 2010, 05:58:02 PM
Quote from: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 05:48:51 PM
Um, aren't these called "holiday" trees now or something?
yeah, because these are representative of so many other religions.  Are we getting a little rediculous yet?  I think you are.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Hoss on December 01, 2010, 06:11:13 PM
Quote from: custosnox on December 01, 2010, 05:58:02 PM
yeah, because these are representative of so many other religions.  Are we getting a little rediculous yet?  I think you are.

Look at the source...
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: RecycleMichael on December 01, 2010, 06:12:08 PM
I believe the tradition of having a tree for Christmas does have other meanings than celebrating the birth of Jesus. First of all, there is no mention of any kind of tree in or near the manger. If they did have a tree, it was probably a live olive tree and not a dead Blue Spruce.

I think it goes back to the sacrifice. Many religions asked the believers to sacrifice an animal, often a goat or chicken. Some of the world's religions even sacrificed people (think throwing virgins in the volcano. I think this tradition was just invented by the men in the tribe to convince girls to put out. I never heard any mention of sacrificing the sexually active girls to the Gods).

Let us kill a tree in honor of the birth of Jesus.  
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 06:21:20 PM
Quote from: custosnox on December 01, 2010, 05:58:02 PM
yeah, because these are representative of so many other religions.  Are we getting a little rediculous yet?  I think you are.

Really? umm.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=4840

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2344666/a_holiday_tree_brings_out_the_critics.html?cat=7

If you noticed, there is an entire thread devoted to all things "holiday". Perhaps if you had you would have gotten the snark.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 06:21:56 PM
Quote from: RecycleMichael on December 01, 2010, 06:12:08 PM
I believe the tradition of having a tree for Christmas does have other meanings than celebrating the birth of Jesus. First of all, there is no mention of any kind of tree in or near the manger. If they did have a tree, it was probably a live olive tree and not a dead Blue Spruce.

I think it goes back to the sacrifice. Many religions asked the believers to sacrifice an animal, often a goat or chicken. Some of the world's religions even sacrificed people (think throwing virgins in the volcano. I think this tradition was just invented by the men in the tribe to convince girls to put out. I never heard any mention of sacrificing the sexually active girls to the Gods).

Let us kill a tree in honor of the birth of Jesus.  

I am not a huge fan of wikipedia, but there is a decent entry on the subject of Christmas trees.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: RecycleMichael on December 01, 2010, 06:22:36 PM
It was probably written by the tree growers...
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 06:40:02 PM
Quote from: RecycleMichael on December 01, 2010, 06:22:36 PM
It was probably written by the tree growers...

LOL. I think it was...

By the way, when did you get back from North Carolina?  ;D

Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: RecycleMichael on December 01, 2010, 06:47:58 PM
That is great.

I know a lady who says that the trees talk to her.  I have witnessed her act. She lays on the roots and hugs the trunk then kinda talks in tongues then translates it.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: GG on December 01, 2010, 07:09:26 PM
Quote from: Hoss on November 30, 2010, 04:08:23 PM
My extended family (my fathers stepfather) owned that lot at 41st/Harvard.  One of his sons (my uncle) had one for 10+ years south of 71st on Memorial (just before all that was bought out) and I worked that lot three seasons  during my highschool years.  Some of the hardest work I've ever done was unloading the tree truck and augering holes (with a 6 inch bit on a power auger) for 200+ trees.  I got paid pretty well for a 10th grader in 1983..about 6.50 an hour.

Wasn't that Bill and Betty Manley?   They owned OK Fireworks too.   
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Hoss on December 01, 2010, 07:19:58 PM
Quote from: unreliablesource on December 01, 2010, 07:09:26 PM
Wasn't that Bill and Betty Manley?   They owned OK Fireworks too.   

Nope, my family owned the one at 41st/Harvard a little later than that.  Not sure if they bought it from that family or not.  I never worked at the one on 41st.  I did work at my uncles on 71st during the 80s though (mid to late eighties).

It was the Rauch Bros at that time.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 01, 2010, 08:25:14 PM
Quote from: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 06:21:20 PM
Really? umm.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=4840

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2344666/a_holiday_tree_brings_out_the_critics.html?cat=7

If you noticed, there is an entire thread devoted to all things "holiday". Perhaps if you had you would have gotten the snark.
Okay, I'll give you that one, and that is rediculous.  The tree in this manner has always been associated with christmas and not other religions.  There is no reason to force the sharing on this, especially since I don't see other religions wanting to use it.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 08:40:46 PM
Quote from: custosnox on December 01, 2010, 08:25:14 PM
Okay, I'll give you that one, and that is rediculous.  The tree in this manner has always been associated with christmas and not other religions.  There is no reason to force the sharing on this, especially since I don't see other religions wanting to use it.

You are right on about the latter point. But I must say I simply do not understand why it is such a big deal in Boston to nix Christmas when putting up a tree. Can someone explain that?
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 01, 2010, 09:17:40 PM
Quote from: guido911 on December 01, 2010, 06:21:20 PM
Really? umm.

http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/default.aspx?id=4840

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2344666/a_holiday_tree_brings_out_the_critics.html?cat=7

If you noticed, there is an entire thread devoted to all things "holiday". Perhaps if you had you would have gotten the snark.

Figures, white spruce.  Bunch of damn racists.

"The holiday decorations throughout Boston Common and the Public Garden, including the city's official Christmas tree, 50-foot, 50-year-old white spruce, donated by Gary and Roseann Meisner of North Alton, Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia, and selected by Ross Pentz of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources..."
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 04, 2010, 11:50:19 AM
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20101204_46_A1_CUTLIN793485&rss_lnk=11
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: joiei on December 04, 2010, 07:35:53 PM
Whole Foods has a small but nice selection of live trees
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on December 04, 2010, 07:55:35 PM
Whole foods and pine trees.  Where's Euell Gibbons when you need him?
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Gaspar on December 06, 2010, 10:46:08 AM
We go to Owasso every year.  It's become a tradition. 
We buy our Chrismhanakuanza tree, get some cider and take pictures of the kids wondering around the Chrismhanakuanza tree farm.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: swake on December 06, 2010, 10:53:45 AM
Pleasant Valley Farm in Sand Springs is really good, and good prices too.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 11:04:18 AM
After a drunken friend of mine set fire to one at the curb and I saw how quickly it went up, I decided artificial makes more sense.  I can always replicate the smell of an evergreen in my house with a candle or reed infuser.  Not having a potential blazing inferno with electricity wrapped around it makes me feel more secure.  I'm also horribly allergic to the needles.  Decorating a tree would leave little red bumps up and down my arms.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Gaspar on December 06, 2010, 12:52:31 PM
Quote from: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 11:04:18 AM
After a drunken friend of mine set fire to one at the curb and I saw how quickly it went up, I decided artificial makes more sense.  I can always replicate the smell of an evergreen in my house with a candle or reed infuser.  Not having a potential blazing inferno with electricity wrapped around it makes me feel more secure.  I'm also horribly allergic to the needles.  Decorating a tree would leave little red bumps up and down my arms.

I throw a limb in the chiminea every year to show the wife and kids that a Christmas tree is about like having an open bucket of gasoline in the living room with lights wrapped around it.  A single limb will turn a chiminea into the afterburner on an X15. 

WARNING don't do it unless you have a very heavy duty chiminea (mine is very old 3" thick terracotta) and a WIDE open space.  The flames get about 15ft in the air.  My neighbor copied my actions one year and his chiminea shattered into a thousand pieces.  The newer chiminea's are very cheaply made.


Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 01:39:17 PM
Quote from: Gaspar on December 06, 2010, 12:52:31 PM
I throw a limb in the chiminea every year to show the wife and kids that a Christmas tree is about like having an open bucket of gasoline in the living room with lights wrapped around it.  A single limb will turn a chiminea into the afterburner on an X15. 

WARNING don't do it unless you have a very heavy duty chiminea (mine is very old 3" thick terracotta) and a WIDE open space.  The flames get about 15ft in the air.  My neighbor copied my actions one year and his chiminea shattered into a thousand pieces.  The newer chiminea's are very cheaply made.


A chiminea isn't designed to be used as a flame-thrower, however, if done after it's had plenty of time to warm up, there shouldn't have been near enough rapid thermal expansion to shatter it like that.  I bet that got the neighbor's attention.

We were all pretty plowed when my buddy pulled his little stunt.  I was having a party at my Mom's house when home on Xmas break during college.  One of my friends thought it was funny to drag his family's dead tree into my mother's living room.  After the laughs had subsided, he dragged the tree to the curb.  About an hour later there's a "WHOOSH" out front and flames.  I thought a car had blown up at first.

IIRC, the tree was completely involved within 10 to 15 seconds.  It actually made an explosive sound when the whole tree became involved.  It was a smoldering hulk in less than two minutes.  I'm not sure the whole mechanism unless there's a gas which is realeased pretty quickly by the needles when they get hot.  Quite impressive and the burned out skeleton of a tree the next morning looked pretty ominous.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Gaspar on December 06, 2010, 02:01:16 PM
Quote from: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 01:39:17 PM
A chiminea isn't designed to be used as a flame-thrower, however, if done after it's had plenty of time to warm up, there shouldn't have been near enough rapid thermal expansion to shatter it like that.  I bet that got the neighbor's attention.

We were all pretty plowed when my buddy pulled his little stunt.  I was having a party at my Mom's house when home on Xmas break during college.  One of my friends thought it was funny to drag his family's dead tree into my mother's living room.  After the laughs had subsided, he dragged the tree to the curb.  About an hour later there's a "WHOOSH" out front and flames.  I thought a car had blown up at first.

IIRC, the tree was completely involved within 10 to 15 seconds.  It actually made an explosive sound when the whole tree became involved.  It was a smoldering hulk in less than two minutes.  I'm not sure the whole mechanism unless there's a gas which is realeased pretty quickly by the needles when they get hot.  Quite impressive and the burned out skeleton of a tree the next morning looked pretty ominous.

It's actually worse with a green tree, just takes longer to get it started.  The green needles contain much more oil and turpen.  First the needles pop and release a ton of vapor then the whole mass of vapor explodes like a FAE.  It's quite breathtaking. . .and horrifying.  I can understand why that Smokey The Bear guy gets his panties in such a wad!
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: swake on December 06, 2010, 02:24:27 PM
The fire thing is way overblown. The actual risk is minuscule. There are 25-30 million fresh Christmas trees sold per year and only about 250 fires are started from trees. So if you have a real tree you are running a risk of about 100-120,000 to 1 chance of a fire. Your chance of dying in such a fire is almost two million to one.
http://www.christmastree.org/facts.cfm
http://www.orangevillage.com/pdf/Holiday%20Fire%20Safety%20Tips.pdf

And the fires aren't started by the lights either
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/science/christmas-tree-lights-and-house-fires.html
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 02:41:05 PM
Quote from: swake on December 06, 2010, 02:24:27 PM
The fire thing is way overblown. The actual risk is minuscule. There are 25-30 million fresh Christmas trees sold per year and only about 250 fires are started from trees. So if you have a real tree you are running a risk of about 100-120,000 to 1 chance of a fire. Your chance of dying in such a fire is almost two million to one.
http://www.christmastree.org/facts.cfm
http://www.orangevillage.com/pdf/Holiday%20Fire%20Safety%20Tips.pdf

And the fires aren't started by the lights either
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/science/christmas-tree-lights-and-house-fires.html


Somehow those 250 trees caught fire, they didn't spontaneously combust.  While I'm a great fan of Mythbusters, their methodology is a bit shakey at times in the sake of selling entertainment.  Granted that's a small number of fires each year given the number of trees, but aside from not caring to deal with a dead, sticky tree, the remote fire hazard is simply one more reason for me to see the impracticality of it.  I don't think the fresh Xmas tree market has missed my contribution much the last 20-25 years.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Gaspar on December 06, 2010, 02:43:08 PM
Quote from: swake on December 06, 2010, 02:24:27 PM
The fire thing is way overblown. The actual risk is minuscule. There are 25-30 million fresh Christmas trees sold per year and only about 250 fires are started from trees. So if you have a real tree you are running a risk of about 100-120,000 to 1 chance of a fire. Your chance of dying in such a fire is almost two million to one.
http://www.christmastree.org/facts.cfm
http://www.orangevillage.com/pdf/Holiday%20Fire%20Safety%20Tips.pdf

And the fires aren't started by the lights either
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/science/christmas-tree-lights-and-house-fires.html


I wouldn't say the risk is "minuscule."  The speed and intensity of a Christmas tree fire is amazing.  I do agree that lights are not the culprit.  Most likely the tree's proximity to the fireplace or holiday candles is the culprit. 

We have a live tree every year, but we also demonstrate a great deal of caution because we know how easy they are to set alight, and unlike many flammable things in your home, it the tree catches you're not going to have any time to extinguish it before the room is completely involved (less than 10 seconds).




Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: RecycleMichael on December 06, 2010, 03:14:01 PM
Why would you take the risk of having such a flammable item in your living room, especially within ten feet of a fireplace?

It reminds me of the stupid witch in the Wizard of Oz that had a bucket of stuff that would melt her just sitting in her house on the dining room table.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 03:27:04 PM
Quote from: RecycleMichael on December 06, 2010, 03:14:01 PM
Why would you take the risk of having such a flammable item in your living room, especially within ten feet of a fireplace?

It reminds me of the stupid witch in the Wizard of Oz that had a bucket of stuff that would melt her just sitting in her house on the dining room table.

Di-hydrogen monoxide.  It can be really hazardous stuff in the wrong hands.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 03:34:19 PM
Quote from: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 03:27:04 PM
Di-hydrogen monoxide.  It can be really hazardous stuff in the wrong hands.

I hate the stuff.  It has to be cut with booze just to make it palatable.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 03:40:32 PM
Quote from: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 03:34:19 PM
I hate the stuff.  It has to be cut with booze just to make it palatable.

;D
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: swake on December 06, 2010, 03:42:43 PM
Quote from: Conan71 on December 06, 2010, 03:27:04 PM
Di-hydrogen monoxide.  It can be really hazardous stuff in the wrong hands.

Have you joined the movement?
(http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT7pjwpJyrYCNVVty2qJg1m2XkwcFH0oPdCT2uCHsd-93GDRcLxGw)
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 06, 2010, 05:34:07 PM
when I was a kid we lived in the middle of no where out in the desert, so we burned our trash. I remember the one year my mom talked my dad into getting a real tree we burned it after Christmas.  That sucker went in nothin flat.  All these years later, the memory still impresses me. 

They used to have a Christmas tree burning every year here that I managed to attend once.  They got a lot of trees donated, piled em up high, dowsed em with gasoline (like they needed that), lit it, and ran.  Talk about a show, and lots of heat.  I think they stopped doing it after the ice storm because they put all the debri in the lot where they used to burn the trees at.

Swake, the increased danger isn't in the likely hood of the tree catching fire, but what happens on the chance that it does.  Lighting strikes are even rarer, but I don't see you going outside holding a metal rod up during lightning storms.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 05:59:57 PM
Quote from: custosnox on December 06, 2010, 05:34:07 PM
Swake, the increased danger isn't in the likely hood of the tree catching fire, but what happens on the chance that it does.  Lighting strikes are even rarer, but I don't see you going outside holding a metal rod up during lightning storms.

Once in a while there are golfers out in a T-storm.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 06, 2010, 06:03:36 PM
Quote from: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 05:59:57 PM
Once in a while there are golfers out in a T-storm.

And there is a reason why golfers are the ones that are struck the most by lighting.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 06:14:22 PM
Quote from: custosnox on December 06, 2010, 06:03:36 PM
And there is a reason why golfers are the ones that are struck the most by lighting.

Let me guess.....they hold lightning rods.  Do golf shoes have metal cleats?  I don't know, I'm not a golfer.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: custosnox on December 06, 2010, 07:44:46 PM
Quote from: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 06:14:22 PM
Let me guess.....they hold lightning rods.  Do golf shoes have metal cleats?  I don't know, I'm not a golfer.
Yeah, they do, or at least some do.
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Red Arrow on December 06, 2010, 08:04:32 PM
OK.  Lightning rod in the air.  Good connection to the ground.  Maybe they can save a tree.   :D
Title: Re: Where Can I Get A Christmas Tree?
Post by: Conan71 on December 09, 2010, 09:01:50 AM
How to dispose of your old tree: