The Price of Pine

Festooning an evergreen with ornaments is one of the universal customs of the season. Germany can claim credit for the modern version of the Tannenbaum, and Queen Victoria's German-born consort, Prince Albert, helped popularize the practice in Britain and beyond. But evergreen trees, wreaths and garlands were also used by the ancient Egyptians, Chinese and Hebrews to symbolize eternal life. So whatever your reason for deciding to bring a bit of the forest into your home this season, if you're in the market for a 1.8-m pine, balsam or fir, here's what you can expect to pay for it in...