Ben’s Christmas Tree Farm

This farm was really far from us but chose to go here because they were the only place I found that do not spray pesticides on their trees. This farm did not disappoint! We took the horse pulled trailer to find our tree and we cut down a beautiful one! Every employee was extremely nice and helpful. This place will be our new family tradition.

Quaint cut-​your-​own-​tree place. The trees were small and had a lot of holes though. We were looking for a 9 – 11 ft tree and could not find a single one. Very cute to see Santa driving a tractor and loved the free hot chocolate.

Wonderful experience and great people making it the best. Tree prices are beyond reasonable for what they provide: sleigh rides, hot coco, Santa, Billy goats, hay rides and more.
Only suggested additions would be adding the address to the site, knowing its cash only and maybe adding a fire pit for when it’s gets cold cold.

Our third year at Ben’s and yet another beautiful tree! I need to mention the people at Ben’s — just so friendly and helpful. Really first class. A gorgeous, 7ft norwiegan spruce and a classically decorated wreath for less than $ 100. I can’t imagine Christmas without a trip to Ben’s. See you next year!

For the second year in a row, we drove about 90 minutes to get to Ben’s. We drove past several other Christmas tree farms to get here. The saws are sharp, the trees are plentiful, and there’s free hot chocolate. Santa was driving a tractor and there were several horse drawn carriages. Spend as long as you like searching for the perfect tree, then cut it down, get it wrapped, and haul it home. Don’t forget to pay — CASH OR CHECK ONLY. Trees are priced by the foot or half foot, so keep that in mind if you promise your children that they can pick whatever tree they want. They also sell doughnuts, wreaths, and tree stands.

We went here for the first time this year. It was also my first time getting a real tree. The guy who was there was really nice– helped us tie the tree to our car (if we’d done it the way we were going to, that tree would have been on the side of Rt 14 somewhere between Harvard and Arlington Heights.)
Before we went out there, I read on their website (and a couple others) about the different types of trees they grow, and had 2 or 3 types in mind that fit what characteristics I was looking for. When we got to the farm, though, it was a little vague about what trees were where. «Firs and spruces in that field, pines and firs over there, and some more spruces and pines in that field out there», and then once we got out in the field, we really had no idea what kind of tree we were cutting down– we just picked one that looked good. When we got it back to the area where they tie up the tree, we found out it was a Norway Spruce, which was a type I’d only heard so-​so things about (doesn’t have good needle retention, needs lots of water).
Well, we couldn’t put it back in the ground, so we took it. We’ve had it for 11 days now, and it’s basically ok. Having never had a real tree before, I can’t compare its needle retention or water intake, but it is really pretty, and it’s organically grown, so it’s not poisoning my cat when he chews on it.
We were there on a mid-​to-​late Friday afternoon and there were only a few more people there, so we didn’t do the whole experience with the hayride and the hot chocolate, but we’ll definitely go back next year, maybe with some pictures of the type (s) of tree (s) we want so we know what to look for out in the field.
Oh, one more thing I have to note, strange though it may be– after a 3-​cup-​of-​coffee breakfast and a long drive, I really needed a bathroom, and was a little disappointed with having to use a porta-​potty, but damn if it wasn’t the nicest porta-​potty I’ve ever used– spray to sanitize the seat, peeing into an actual bowl that flushes and not a creepy seemingly-​bottomless pit. Even though it was about 18 degrees out, it wasn’t so bad.

This was the fourth year we have made the trek from Evanston out to Harvard to visit Ben’s Tree Farm. Every time we have been there, we have had a wonderful time, and it has become one of our family’s favorite traditions. Our kids insist that Christmas wouldn’t be right without a trip to Ben’s!
The features of the place are outlined in other reviews as well as on web sites, so I would like to offer a different piece of information. The people who work there are SO nice and friendly! You can go to a place that has all the bells and whistles, but if the people who work there aren’t invested in what they’re doing, the experience can still be mediocre. Here’s our story.
Despite this being our fourth visit, we failed to remember that they take cash only. It was the end of the day, almost dark, just before closing time. The weather was wonderful for choosing a Christmas tree, but terrible for driving. My husband was just about to drive to the nearest ATM (probably 15 minutes away due to the inclement weather) when the person who was helping us told him — don’t worry about it, here’s our address, just mail us a check. Really??? Who does that??? Well you can bet that we were so grateful, and that we put a check in the mail immediately upon our arrival home. And we will tell everyone to go to Ben’s, not only because of what a wonderful place it is, but because of the wonderful people who work there.
So by all means, please start a new family tradition with Ben’s. Support people who care about what they do, and who care about their customers. You won’t be sorry you did.

So, you know how you can tell when boobs are fake? Well, you can tell with Christmas trees too ;-) It is all about the feel & let’s be honest fake don’t feel right. People you just gotta go real for a tree, who wants fake? Now you can go to one of those tree lots sprinkled through out the city, or you can get your Paul Bunyon on and cut down your own.
This year, Matt & I decided to get in touch with our inner rustic selves & venture to a tree farm to get our tree. In fact it is the earliest I have ever gotten a tree – seems oddly weird. Currently we have an 8 foot White Pine (it was 9 feet, but let’s just say it was a little too big for our place… you know like bending on the ceiling) taking over our living room & it is pretty fabulous.
This farm is pretty sweet, they have a wide variety of trees to choose from & it is a rather large place to wander around in. It is also only a little over an hour outside of the city. Not too far from Huntley, so if you also want to get your shop on you can swing on by the outlet mall.
Once you arrive at the farm, you head over the warming house where you meet with the owner (he is super friendly & very helpful), you then receive instructions on where the varieties are located and you also receive a saw. You can wander around or you can get a ride on the horse drawn carriages (Clydesdale’s yo!). Hey, even Santa is there – he rides around on a John Deere tractor picking up trees for folks. Tree prices vary and it can run you a bit of $$, but it really is more about the experience anyhow right???
Here are the pluses:
*Free Parking
*Warming House
*FREE hot chocolate & coffee for patrons
*Pick your own tree & cut it down.
*Free de-​needling & wrap of tree
*The sell Apple Cider Donuts – yum!
*Horse drawn carriage ride
* Santa is there which is fun for the kids
*they have 8 varieties of Christmas trees: Blue Spruce, Balsam Fir, Concolor Fir, Douglas Fir, Fraser Fir, Norway Spruce, Scotch Pine, and White Pine
Cons:
*A bit pricey
*The Christmas decorations they sell are a bit cheap looking.
*If you cut down your tree & leave it for pick up, it can take a very long time to get it up to the warming station.
All in all a great place to get your Christmas tree, heck this may now be a tradition for us.