A Christmas tree farm in Bandera County is ready to help you find the right evergreen for your holidays.
BANDERA COUNTY, Texas — Some people wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Others don’t mind serving a Christmas tree right alongside the turkey. No matter your tradition, there’s a quiet Hill Country farm in Bandera County that’s already in the holiday spirit — year-round.
At Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm, owner Doug Hingst is busy tending to more than 6,000 trees spread across rows of Afghan pines, Leyland cypress, and Arizona cypress.
“This is a year-round thing,” Hingst said. “Anything with the word ‘farm’ on it has a lot of work behind it.”
The farm was started by Hingst’s father when he retired at the age of 59. Now 95, he still visits the property and helps out whenever he can.
Hingst spends much of his time shearing the trees — a process he repeats at least three times a year to make sure each one develops that classic Christmas-tree shape.
“I’m basically just kind of giving them a haircut,” he explained. “Trees grow from the top up. You can cut the top and it keeps growing. But if you cut the branches at the bottom, they won’t grow back.”
Despite recent drought conditions across parts of Texas, this year’s crop is looking healthy. Hingst says it takes about four years for a tree to reach six feet tall, and after that, they grow roughly three feet per year. Some of the trees on the farm, if left uncut, could reach heights of 25 feet.
Picking the perfect tree
Hingst encourages customers not to get caught up in searching for something “perfect.”
“A lot of people look for a perfect tree,” he said. “Treat it like people — they’re not going to be perfect. You can always hide the bad side in the corner. When they’re out here in the open, they look small. But once you get them in your apartment, all of a sudden it’s like Christmas Vacation.”
Customers at Pipe Creek can cut down their own tree for about $15 per foot, and for many families, the experience has become a tradition passed down through generations.
“They came out here as children, and now they bring their children,” Hingst said. “To see people come in and smile — it means everything to us.”
Visit Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm
The farm opened for the season on Monday and is located at:
805 Phil’s Road
About a half-mile off Highway 16,
9 miles south of Bandera