We found the perfect Christmas Tree Farm MD for our family! Modlin's Tree Farm in Lothian was not crowded, beautiful and had great prices! 2022 Update: Opens Friday, November 25, 2022. (Note: They sold out last year on December 7th!)
Two years ago, we decided to chop down our Christmas Tree for the first time! We're not traveling during the holidays and my kids were so excited to pick out a "wild" tree in a field! I did a ton of research on Christmas tree farms in Maryland because we only needed to go to one. Below is our Christmas Tree Farm MD review of Modlin’s Tree Farm which exceeded our expectations!
My search parameters for a great Christmas Tree Farm MD included:
- Less than an hour from DC/Fairfax County
- Not crazy expensive (some tree farms I researched had a minimum price of $125 plus baling, plus tip!)
- Supplied saws, baling, and tied to our car roof since we had never done this before!
And I found the perfect one that met all these requirements and more...Modlin’s Christmas Tree Farm in Lothian, MD!
The best news is that all the trees in the fields are a flat $70 + $5 (2021 prices) if you want them to bale it. Read more about the process below.
About Modlin’s Tree Farm in Maryland
Modlin’s is a family-run farm just west of Upper Marlboro, MD. It took us 40 minutes to drive there on the Friday after Thanksgiving from Fairfax County. Google says its also 40 minutes away from downtown DC and 45 minutes from Silver Spring.
It is a family-run farm of 40 acres that was great for social distancing because its trees are located on 3 or 4 separate hills. There is a small footbridge to cross (kids loved it!) to get to the other 2 hills and plenty of space to run and explore!
The Process for Chopping Down our Christmas Tree at the Farm
We arrived right at 9 am and they had saws to use on a stand outside the Gift Shop. We took our saw, crossed the footbridge, and wandered around the hills for a while to find our tree.
Once we found a great tree, my kids sang O Christmas Tree and named her Tina! My husband sawed it (is that the verb?!) and we all cheered! A staff member in a pickup truck came and tagged our tree with our name and drove back to the baling station.
We wandered back to the baling area and and watched as another staff member used a leaf blower to clean out the tree. I’m glad they clean out the tree since I’ve read some horror stories of people finding insect eggs inside their trees!
Next, we got the kids a little treat at the cute Santa Snack shop. They also sell hot dogs, drinks and snacks. They picked out $1.50 candy canes with a tree gummy bear tied with a bow on it.
Then my husband paid for the tree, baling and tree stands inside the gift shop.
The last step was to drive up to the baling station and 2 staff put the tree on top of our car and tied it down. All finished!
We would have been home by noon except that we stopped at a playground first! :)
Things I wish I knew before going to a Christmas Tree Farm in MD
- Wear good waterproof boots. Guess this makes me Captain Obvious but 2 of the 4 of us did not wear boots and had some muddy shoes!
- Bring a blanket to wrap the tree. We brought a tarp and the metal grommets hit our roof so hard driving on 495 that we had to pull over and pull it out. I saw someone else had an old fleece blanket and I'm sure that helped!
- Tip the staff who bale your tree. Thankfully my husband quickly googled and yes, it's customary to tip!
It was such an easy and lovely first Christmas Tree Farm experience! I had read of other farms where there were hours-long waits for baling or in the parking lots but Modlin’s was a great experience and the (almost) the finished product is beautiful and smells great!
And check out 20 Holiday Light Displays in the DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia!
