Andrew Patterson, 13, bottom, and his brothers Jonathan, 11, center, and Nick, 15, cut down an eight-foot Douglas fir at Mount Hope Farms in Hagerstown. The Patterson family, who live in Hagerstown, have a tradition of getting trees at the farm during the holiday season. (Ricky Carioti / WASHINGTON POST)

Rick Murray prepares a tree to be sold at Meadows Farms Nursery in Vienna. (Jahi Chikwendiu / WASHINGTON POST)

The Patterson brothers lug their big Douglas fir through the Christmas tree field at Mount Hope Farms in Hagerstown. (Ricky Carioti / WASHINGTON POST)

Ed Patterson ties his family’s tree to the roof of his minivan at Mount Hope Farms in Hagerstown. (Ricky Carioti / WASHINGTON POST)

A holiday flag waves near the entrance of the Clemsonville Christmas Tree Farm in Union Bridge, Md. For $20, customers can select and saw down the tree of their choice. Owner Michael Ryan moved to the property in 1965 and started selling Christmas trees in 1974. The house in the background was built in 1796. (Matt McClain / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

Joe Hinders, left, walks behind his father, Bill Hinders, who drags one of the two Christmas trees they picked out at the Clemsonville Christmas Tree Farm in Union Bridge, Md. (Matt McClain / FOR THE WASHINGTON POST)

William Reid, left, of North Star Christmas Trees in Beltsville helps customer Janis Jarvis. (Jahi Chikwendiu / WASHINGTON POST)

Christmas trees are illuminated by LED lights in Shah Alam, Malaysia, west of Kuala Lumpur. A large percentage of ethnic minorities in Malaysia celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday. (MOHD RASFAN / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

Morgan Gross, 6, of Philomath, Ore., is illuminated by holiday lights while taking part in the annual Christmas tree lighting at the Benton County Historical Museum in Philomath. (Amanda Cowan / AP)

U.S. Army soldiers tote free Christmas trees at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs, Colo. More than 600 soldiers and military families received trees at the base as part of the annual Trees for Troops program. About 17,000 trees are donated by growers and retailers nationwide in the weeks before Christmas and delivered by FedEx to 60 military instalations in the United States and abroad. (John Moore / GETTY IMAGES)

A Christmas tree is set up outside a U.S. Army building at Camp Virginia in Kuwait on Dec. 9. Troops who just left Iraq were waiting to leave Kuwait and head home for the holidays. (Joe Raedle / GETTY IMAGES)

A diver wearing a Santa Claus suit decorates a tree inside a huge aquarium as part of Christmas festivities at Manila Ocean Park in the Philippines on Dec. 7. (ROMEO RANOCO / REUTERS)

A man dressed as Santa Claus maneuvers a Christmas tree onto a ship in Hamburg, Germany. Every year during Advent, Christmas trees are distributed to ships in Hamburg. (DANIEL BOCKWOLDT / AFP/GETTY IMAGES)

A German soldier tops a tree with a Santa Claus hat at a camp in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (THOMAS PETER / REUTERS)

Trees glow in the main square of the old city in Ljubljana, Slovenia. (SRDJAN ZIVULOVIC / REUTERS)

Steve and Samantha Rivera of Philadelphia share a romantic moment after a Christmas tree lighting at the city’s John F. Kennedy Plaza, also known as Love Park. (Matt Rourke / AP)