Minnesota tree farms › Krueger's Christmas Tree Farm
Krueger's Christmas Tree Farm
Lake Elmo, Minnesota · Washington County
Opens Nov 21
Opens November 21.
The Kruegers have farmed this ground east of the Twin Cities since 1916 and grown Christmas trees on it since 1954, which makes this the 72nd season. Balsam, Canaan and Fraser fir fill the cut-your-own fields, and the lot holds up to 300 fresh-cut trees including Korean and Siberian fir you won't find at many farms. Every tree is tagged on its own — kind, height, shape — so the price on a ten-footer looks nothing like the price on a tabletop.
Book before you drive out; the farm takes reservations to keep the parking lot and the fields from getting swamped. After that everything comes with the tree: shaking, baling, a fresh cut, help tying it to the roof, hot cider, tootsie rolls, a bonfire, and a dated ornament to hang at home. The lot stays open until 7 most nights, but the cutting fields shut at 5, so leave yourself daylight for the walk.
The facts
- Cut-your-own Balsam firs and Canaan firs; pre-cut too
- Mon–Thu 1–7 and Fri–Sun 9–7, but the cut-your-own fields close at 5. Reservations are required — grab a time slot before you leave home.
- Reservation required
- Also at the farm: bonfire, hot cider & tootsie rolls, free dated ornament, free shaking & baling
- Opening day: November 21
Checked Sep 5 against the farm's own site
What's open this weekend in Minnesota →
All Minnesota farms, by region →
Christmas tree disposal and recycling in Minnesota
The other end of the same trip: when the tree comes down in January, disposal and recycling are a city job and the rules change at the city line — here is who takes it in Minneapolis · Saint Paul — or Christmas tree disposal in every city we cover →
- How do I dispose of a Christmas tree in Minnesota?
- Not at the farm — getting rid of a tree is a city service, and the rules change at the city line. We read the tree collection page for 2 cities in Minnesota, linked just above: each one says whether the tree goes out for curbside pickup or to a drop-off site, and what has to come off it before it does.
- Is there Christmas tree recycling in Minnesota?
- Both cities we cover in Minnesota say on their own pages what becomes of a collected tree, and our pages quote that sentence. Where a city doesn't say, we don't say it either.
- Who handles Christmas tree removal once the season is over?
- The city, or the county authority that runs collection for it — that is the body every page in that January list is read from, and the only one that can tell you when it is running. Private haulers will take a tree away as well; they are not on this site, because we only write down what a city puts in writing itself.