We checked 8 places to buy a Christmas tree near Colchester, from Fred Smith's at Boxted to Bullbanks Farm, for 2026 dates and delivery. Updated November 2026.

There are eight places to buy a real Christmas tree for a Colchester home in 2026, and this guide puts them in one place with opening dates, what each sells and who delivers. Most people land on Fred Smith Christmas Trees at Boxted, a family grower that has sold trees since 1959; Bullbanks Farm on the A1124 at Aldham, where you can choose your tree in the field; and the farm shop at Fiveways Fruit Farm in Stanway. Every entry was checked against the seller’s own website on 5 November 2026.

Three are farms that grow their own trees on the edge of the city, three are garden centres, one is a tree barn near Braintree and one delivers.

None of the Colchester sellers publishes its tree prices online, so the only prices below are those of the delivery firm. Phone a farm before a special trip if price matters.

Growers on the edge of Colchester

1. Fred Smith Christmas Trees, Boxted

Fred Smith and two generations of his family have grown and sold Christmas trees in Boxted, just north of Colchester, for more than 50 years; the site says the business has been selling trees at Christmas since 1959. It grows Norway spruce, its most popular tree, Nordmann fir, which it says holds its needles well but costs a little more because it is slower to grow, and blue spruce.

Trees run from about 1m (3ft) to about 10m (33ft), ready dug or pre-cut, from early November to early January. Wreaths follow from late November, made to order if you ask, usually with locally grown holly and mistletoe.

The family has given trees to St Helena Hospice for many years.

Regular-sized trees can be delivered locally by arrangement, and larger trees up to 50 miles away. The second number is 07393 856018.

Open 7 days a week from early November to early January; the site lists 8am to 8pm, and "dawn till dusk" in its header
Price not published online
Booking no booking to visit; call to arrange delivery
Call 01206 272346
Address West View, 61 Straight Road, Boxted, Colchester, CO4 5QY
Website fredsmithxmastrees.com
Good for rooted and cut trees, trees to 33ft, local delivery, wreaths and holly

2. Bullbanks Farm, Aldham

Bullbanks Farm is a family farm on Halstead Road at Aldham, on the A1124 about 2 miles out from the Tollgate Sainsbury’s at Stanway. It sells Norway spruce and the “minimum drop” Nordmann fir straight from the grower, in all sizes and freshly lifted.

You can pick from a large selection in the yard or choose your own in the field, and the tree is prepared for your stand while you wait. The farm opens every day from Friday 20 November to Tuesday 22 December.

Open every day from 20 November to 22 December; weekdays 10am to 5pm; weekends 9am to 5pm
Price not published online; cash and card taken
Call 07860 235423
Address Bullbanks Farm, Halstead Road, Aldham, Colchester, CO6 3PT
Website bullbanksfarm.co.uk
Good for choose your own in the field, Nordmann and Norway spruce, trees prepared for your stand

3. Fiveways Fruit Farm, Stanway

Fiveways is the fruit farm on Warren Lane at Stanway, best known for its pick-your-own cherries and its farm shop, which James and Danielle Coe of Layer Marney Meats run from the farm’s packhouse. It has grown Christmas trees for more than 25 years, and says it takes about eight years from planting to grow a 6ft tree.

Three cut varieties are sold at the farm shop: Nordmann fir, the most popular; Norway spruce, which it calls the good-value traditional tree but warns drops needles in a warm room; and Fraser fir, a narrow, bushy tree for tight spaces. Its Christmas tree page still shows the 2025 start date, Thursday 20 November, and has not been updated for 2026.

Open farm shop Mon to Fri 8.30am to 5.30pm; Sat 8am to 5pm; Sun 10am to 2pm; the farm says hours are restricted in the last week of November, then it opens every day to Christmas Eve
Price not published online
Call 01206 331179
Address Fiveways Fruit Farm, Warren Lane, Stanway, Colchester, CO3 0NN
Parking plenty on site, the farm says
Website fivewaysfruitfarm.co.uk/christmas-trees
Good for home-grown trees, Fraser fir for small rooms, farm shop

Garden centres

4. Poplar Nurseries, Marks Tey

Poplar Nurseries is the garden centre on Coggeshall Road at Marks Tey, with a food hall, a restaurant and a miniature railway. It sells fresh, British-grown cut trees “from late November”, it says, in a range of shapes and sizes, alongside living pot-grown trees that can be kept and grown on year after year.

Its artificial trees and the rest of the Christmas department have been in since late September. The Christmas pages also list breakfast with Santa.

Open Mon to Sat 8.30am to 5pm; Sun 9.30am to 4pm (tills open at 10am); cut trees from late November
Price not published online
Call 01206 210374
Address Poplar Nurseries, Coggeshall Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, CO6 1HR
Website poplarnurseries.co.uk/christmas-trees
Good for cut and pot-grown trees, restaurant, miniature railway, wreaths and lights

5. Perrywood, Tiptree

Perrywood is a garden centre group with three centres in Essex and Suffolk; its Tiptree centre is on Kelvedon Road at Inworth. Its Christmas page says real Christmas trees will be available in November, alongside its artificial trees, lights and this year’s displays, which bring classic novels and murder mysteries to life.

On Mondays it holds quiet Christmas shopping from 8.30am to 9.30am and 3.30pm to 5pm, with no music or flashing lights in the Christmas shop. The coffee shop and restaurant runs a Christmas dining experience that can be booked.

Open Mon to Sat 8.30am to 5pm; Sun 10am to 4pm; real trees from November
Price not published online
Call 01376 570777
Address Perrywood Tiptree, Kelvedon Road, Inworth, Tiptree, CO5 9SX
Website perrywood.co.uk/pages/christmas
Good for real and artificial trees, quiet shopping Mondays, restaurant, Christmas displays

6. Bypass Nurseries, Capel St Mary

Bypass Nurseries is a garden centre on London Road at Capel St Mary, just over the Suffolk border off the A12 north of Colchester. Its Christmas page says its Christmas trees will be available again this year from mid November, sold alongside gifts, homeware, lights and decorations.

It has a cafe and a pets and aquatics department. It does not publish tree prices or say which varieties it stocks.

Open trees from mid November
Price not published online
Call 01473 310604
Address Bypass Nurseries, London Road, Capel St Mary, Ipswich, IP9 2JR
Website bypassnurseries.co.uk/christmas
Good for garden centre trees, cafe, decorations and lights

Further out

7. Slamseys, Great Notley

Slamseys Farm, beside the A131 south of Great Notley near Braintree, has sold Christmas trees since the 1970s, when, the family says, Phil Wheaton stood a few outside the farmhouse door and sold out. It now grows its own Nordmann firs and Norway spruces and every November turns its grain store into the Christmas Tree Barn, so trees are chosen under cover.

Sawn trees run from a 1m Norway spruce to a 3m Nordmann, the most popular being a 2m Nordmann, and pot-grown trees are about 1m. It also sells Noble fir wreaths and tree stands.

Dogs are not allowed in the Christmas Tree Barn, except assistance dogs.

Open the Christmas Tree Barn reopens Fri 27 November; hours not yet published
Price not published online; sawn trees 1m to 3m, pot-grown about 1m
Address Slamseys Farm, Blackley Lane, Great Notley, Braintree, CM77 7QW
Access level access into the barn, suitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs
Website slamseys.uk/christmas-trees
Good for choosing under cover, home-grown trees, pot-grown trees, no wellies needed

Delivery to your door

8. Jacksons Nurseries, delivery to Colchester

Jacksons Nurseries is a garden centre and grower at Bagnall, near Stoke-on-Trent, with a delivery page for Colchester that covers postcodes CO1 to CO8. It sells cut Nordmann, Norway spruce, Fraser, Noble, Korean and Lasiocarpa firs and a slim-shaped Nordmann.

You choose a two-day delivery window at checkout, and it says it will beat the price of a tree of the same type and grade elsewhere by 10%.

Price cut Nordmann 3 to 4ft £44.99; 4 to 5ft £49.99; 5 to 6ft £59.99; 6 to 7ft £69.99; 7 to 8ft £79.99; Norway spruce from £44.99; Fraser fir from £54.99 (shown as reduced prices on 5 November 2026)
Booking online, choose a two-day delivery window
Website jacksonsnurseries.co.uk/buy-christmas-tree-delivery-colchester.html
Good for home delivery, six varieties, slim trees for small rooms

Also worth knowing

How we chose

We looked for farms and garden centres selling real trees in and around Colchester, a tree barn within a reasonable drive, and a firm that delivers to Colchester postcodes, and kept only those whose own websites we could read on 5 November 2026. We left out Foxes Farm at Eight Ash Green, which has stopped its seasonal events and is now a gym and pickleball farm, West Hyde Christmas Trees at Great Braxted, which has no website of its own we could find and no 2026 dates online, and the tree sale at Tiptree’s Christmas fair, last listed for 2024.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@colchesterpost.co.uk. Taken a good photograph of any of these places? Email it to newsdesk@colchesterpost.co.uk and we will add it with your name as the credit.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy a real Christmas tree in Colchester in 2026?

The two best-known growers are Fred Smith Christmas Trees on Straight Road, Boxted, which has sold trees since 1959 and opens seven days a week from early November, and Bullbanks Farm on the A1124 at Aldham, open every day from 20 November to 22 December. Fiveways Fruit Farm at Stanway sells its own trees from its farm shop, and Poplar Nurseries at Marks Tey and Perrywood at Tiptree both sell cut trees from November.

How much is a real Christmas tree in Colchester in 2026?

None of the Colchester farms or garden centres publishes tree prices online. Jacksons Nurseries, which delivers to CO1 to CO8, lists a cut Nordmann fir of 5 to 6ft at £59.99 and 6 to 7ft at £69.99, shown as reduced prices on 5 November 2026. Fred Smith’s says its Nordmann firs cost a little more than its Norway spruces because they take longer to grow.

Can I get a Christmas tree delivered in Colchester?

Yes. Fred Smith Christmas Trees delivers regular-sized trees locally by arrangement and larger trees up to 50 miles. Jacksons Nurseries delivers to Colchester postcodes CO1 to CO8 with a two-day delivery window chosen at checkout.

How do I get rid of a real Christmas tree in Colchester?

In January 2025 St Helena Hospice collected pre-registered real trees across CO1 to CO9 and CO11 to CO16 for a small donation, and the council pointed residents to it. The hospice had not announced dates for January 2027 when we checked on 5 November 2026. Trees can also go to the Shrub End recycling centre.