schmidt's tree farm

We went here on Sunday to visit the LIVE reindeer. Once on location, the parking lots were FULL and VERY muddy. We finally did find a spot that did not seem too bad. We parked and tried to tip-toe our way around the mud to make our way down to the reindeer enclosure & gift shop. The gift shop is nothing spectacular. It is an old building with a few trinkets inside, some antique! They had FREE hot chocolate and popcorn for $1/bag in the back room. There was also a vineyard there giving samples of their wine. Beside the gift shop you will find a small kids playground. Around back, you will find the reindeer enclosure. This year they only had 2 reindeer. They were pretty lively and we enjoyed viewing them. It is a nice way to catch some holiday spirit.We did not buy a tree here, since we already bought ours from another tree farm & had it delivered to the house. However, their trees do look very nice. I think they have a great selection with various shapes/sizes/varieties, but their prices are considerably higher than where we get ours. PLUS you have to cut your own tree down with a handsaw & get your own tree home for this price...NO delivery. There were tons of people there that day. We saw people choosing from the precut lot, people bringing back their trees to be baled, and the wagon ride coming/going. We also saw people both carrying their trees and trying to use the dollies to wheel their trees to their cars.We did buy a winterberry holly bush as a gift for someone. They had a nice selection of them there & the staff gave us some useful information on it before purchasing it. It is one of the few places that we have found where you can purchase them! Overall, we had a nice visit with the farm. The reindeer enclosure is nice. It is nice that they have FREE hot chocolate for their patrons. But they need to do something about the parking area. It was a little muddy last year when we visited, but this year was just terrible! It was SO muddy that it was difficult to park and even walk around. The ground was so squishy with mud that you needed boots and old clothes that you would not care if you ruined them! We saw several trucks, suvs and 4x4's get stuck in the mud. The staff had to keep pulling them out with their tractor OR manually pushing them out of the mud. We even saw one truck spin his tires and fishtail so much that when he finally caught traction, he flung mud ALL over a white car that was parked nearby. I'm sure that returning to a mud covered vehicle after selecting the "perfect" Christmas tree from the fields really invoked some great holiday spirit!

Went Christmas tree shopping on Saturday 11/29/14 about 1230 pm. Perfect day as it was cold and it had snowed right before Thanksgiving in PA vs. no snow in our central Delaware town. First time to this tree farm as we wanted a fresh Frasier Fir - and we found the perfect tree. Beautiful trees, maintained/grown perfectly. Huge variety of shapes and sized for everyone. Found the prefect tall narrower tree we needed for our 9 foot ceiling library. Lots of customers shopping, lots of families, lots of employee help clearly marked in red sweatshirts that had Schmidt's Tree Farm logo on them. Easy to find help if needed. Easy pull carts if you prefer to cut and pull your own to the loading/tree wrap area. Or, take the wagon ride. Plenty of inventory for all. And, there are (2) beautiful reindeer on site that everyone can admire in their large fenced/sheltered area. Yes, they were awake and a joy to all who gazed upon them! Also a gift shop and free hot chocolate. Plenty of parking, this day was very busy, but still found a parking space within their 2 parking lots for our large diesel truck. No employee just stood around, these guys were working hard and were extremely polite. Could not ask for more. Perfect tree, perfect location, quality employees, and beautiful reindeer! A very Christmasy experience that we were so lucky to enjoy! I thank them for a job well done! There are only so many Christmas trees you are going to buy in a lifetime and this was a perfect experience. BTW, our high school freshman and senior also had a great time and quickly had the holiday spirit at the farm! To have happy teens in itself is a testament to this wonderful tree farm! Keep up the good work!

We have visited Schmidt's Christmas Tree Farm a few times now. Our 1st visit was in winter of 2010. We visited again this winter (2013). It is located just a few minutes from downtown Newark, DE in the rolling hills of Landenberg, PA. At Schmidt's, they have pre-cut Christmas trees OR you can cut your own (handsaw provided). They have a wagon ride that takes you into the choose-and-cut tree fields IF you don't want to cut one close to the parking lot. It looks like they have a lot of nice trees & varieties to choose from. We have considered getting our tree here for the past few years, but usually decide against it due to cost. To cut your own 8ft tree at Schmidt's Farm it will cost you over $80. We go to another local tree farm instead. This year we only paid $59 for our tree, which included a visit with Santa at the tree farm, gift shop and kids playground in addition to the farm cutting down our 8ft Frasier fir tree, drilling a pin hole for our tree stand and delivering it to our own front door!! So by comparison, Schmidt's is much more expensive considering that you have to cut your own tree & strap it to your own car to take home at Schmidt's. However, Schmidt's does provide tree dollies to get your tree from the bale area to your car in the parking lot. So, why do we go to Schmidt's IF we don't get a tree? Well, that is simple. Schmidt's has LIVE reindeer on location at their tree farm. It is FREE to visit with the reindeer in their enclosure. This year they had 3 reindeer and their enclosure was larger with new fencing. It is neat to be able to see REAL LIVE reindeer at Christmas time. Such an nice feature. Even if there were a small fee, I would visit. IF they had a donation box to help feed the reindeer, I would gladly donate. However, to date...it is simply FREE.In addition to the reindeer, they also have a gift shop on location too. It is kind of small and rustic inside. It could use some sprucing up. It feels like a big shed with some odds & ends for sale. They have some ornaments, wax candles, wreaths, winterberry holly and genuine German nutcrackers for sale. I'm sure there was more, but this is what I remember. The nutcrackers are expensive, but they are REAL German imports. These are the real deal! Their website says they have FREE Hot Chocolate & coffee in the gift shop, but all I saw was some popcorn in the back room. Nice idea though. When we visited, Paradocx Vineyard was there at the gift shop sampling & selling their wines. So, that was interesting..one local farmer supporting another. In addition to the tree farm, reindeer and gift shop, they have an interesting playground for the kids. It is built on a huge hill. They have plastic slides set about the hill and some huge plastic tunnels through the hill for the kids to go through. The kids looked like they were having fun. However, the grounds were kind of muddy around the playground and gift shop area. There is gravel in some areas. Overall, we have had nice visits with Schmidt's. We have not purchased a tree here yet, so I cannot comment other than that from what I have seen....they look nice. Their prices are high by comparison to other local tree farms. However, their LIVE reindeer enclosure alone is definitely worth the visit. We will continue to visit the reindeer here for years to come. It is a nice family tradition. Note: In addition to winter activities, Schmidt's has fall activities: corn maze, hayrides, pedal cars, corn cannon, giant slingshot, pumpkin bowling, kiddie wagon train & pumpkin patch. Also available for school tours & parties.