Small Live Christmas Trees for Meaningful Holiday Giving
Finding a holiday gift for someone who seems to have everything can be harder than finding something to put under the tree. A small live Christmas tree offers something different: a real evergreen sapling that arrives dressed for the season, can be enjoyed outside through the holidays, and later be planted to keep growing. It’s a gift that feels personal without being complicated, and meaningful without needing much explanation.
Each Little Sap begins at Hart-T-Tree Farms, our family’s 50-year-old Christmas tree farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. We hand-select each tree and choose a variety suited to the recipient’s growing region, so the gift can become something they enjoy long after the holidays are over.
For the friend who is hard to shop for. The teacher you want to thank. The family member who lives far away. Or someone who simply appreciates gifts with a little more meaning.
Small Live Christmas Gift Trees, by Size
There are a few ways to give a Little Sap, depending on the person and the moment.
Small Holiday Sapling | 12–18 inches
Our classic gift tree, available in a rustic burlap bag or soft white linen bag. Small enough for a front step, porch, balcony, or other outdoor space, it’s a thoughtful choice for friends, teachers, neighbors, and other people on your holiday list.
Medium Holiday Sapling | 18–24 inches
Pre-potted in a white planter, this is an easy choice when you want to give a tree that’s ready to enjoy as soon as it arrives. It works especially well as an outdoor potted Christmas tree for a porch, patio, or front step.
Large Holiday Sapling | 24–30 inches
Our largest tree comes pre-potted in white planter and makes a more substantial holiday gift. It’s especially fitting for a close friend or family member, a new home, or a gift you hope will become part of a holiday tradition.
Mini Holiday Saplings | 8 - 12 inches
Available in sets of 3 or 6, these mini saplings arrive in soil plugs ready to be placed in a decorative bag or small pot. Use them for holiday decorating or give them individually to teachers, colleagues, neighbors, hosts, and others on your holiday list.
Holiday Gift Presentation
Our Small, Medium, and Large Holiday Saplings arrive with a red ribbon, your choice of holiday gift tag, and a keepsake card printed with your personal message. Mini Holiday Saplings are sold in sets of 3 or 6 and arrive ready for you to decorate, pot, or package yourself.
Why Little Saps are Outdoor Christmas trees
One thing to know before sending a Little Sap is that these are living evergreen trees, not indoor Christmas trees. You can enjoy them inside for a short time, maybe 3-7 days, but they need to spend a majority of their time outside to stay healthy.
That makes them small outdoor Christmas trees meant for a porch, patio, front step, balcony, or garden.
Enjoy the tree outside through the holidays, then plant it when the time is right. What begins as holiday decor can eventually become part of someone’s yard, growing a little more each year.
A Plantable Christmas Tree as a Gift
A lot of holiday gifts are meant to be enjoyed for a season. Little Saps are meant to become part of the years that follow.
These plantable Christmas trees arrive ready to be placed in a pot or planted directly in the ground, with care and planting instructions included. The recipient doesn’t need to know much about trees to get started. We’ve made the process simple, and our team is here if questions come up along the way.
How It Works
You choose the size and container that feels right for your recipient. Then select a holiday gift tag and write your personal message for the keepsake card.
From there, we take care of the details. Our team selects an evergreen suited to the recipient’s growing region, packages it carefully, and ships it to their door. See our evergreen varieties that we offer on our Tree Types page.
You can also send one to yourself. Simply skip the personal message and enjoy having a living bit of Christmas at home.
Grown With Care
Every Little Sap is hand-selected from the evergreen varieties we grow and matched to the USDA growing zone where it’s headed. We want each tree to have a healthy start in its new home.
We currently ship within the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Orders usually arrive within 2–5 business days, depending on the destination. The final date to order trees before Christmas is Monday, December 21, 2026.
Every tree also comes with planting and care instructions and is backed by the Little Saps Promise. If your Little Sap isn’t doing well within 30 days of arrival, send us a note and a photo and we’ll help, including a replacement if it isn’t taking root.
The Little Saps Promise
We want every Little Sap to thrive. If your tree is not doing well within 30 days and our team cannot help, we will send you a new one.
Frequently Asked Questions
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We ship to all U.S. states except Hawaii and Alaska. We do not ship to Canada or any international addresses due to agricultural restrictions.
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Orders are packed and shipped on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Most gifts arrive in 2 to 5 business days with standard shipping. Rush service by UPS Second Day Air usually arrives in 1 to 2 days. Tracking is provided.
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Every Little Saps gift includes two meaningful ways to personalize your tree for the occasion:
An occasion-specific gift tag: Choose from a curated selection of tags with pre-printed messages to mark life milestones like memorials, sympathy, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, housewarmings, birthdays, thank-you gifts, or “just because.”
A personalized keepsake card: You can write a personal message to your recipient, and we’ll print it exactly as you’ve written it on a keepsake card that’s enclosed with the tree.
Together, these details help turn a simple sapling into a gift that feels deeply personal and intentional.
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Finding the right words can be hard, especially for meaningful or emotional moments. To help, we created a What to Say Guide with thoughtful message suggestions for a wide range of occasions, including memorials, sympathy, weddings, anniversaries, baby showers, housewarmings, birthdays, thank-you gifts, and “just because” moments.
Whether you want something heartfelt, hopeful, or simple, the guide is there to help you put your feelings into words, so your gift feels as meaningful as the moment it’s meant to mark.
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We will choose a tree variety that is appropriate for the USDA Plant Hardiness growing zone it is being shipped to. Learn more about the trees we grow and the growing zones.
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We prefer to choose the variety so that we can select the very best from what is available at the time. If you have a preference, you’ll be prompted to make a request during the purchasing process. We’ll do our best to accommodate.
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Yes. Every Little Sap includes simple planting and care instructions. For more detail, visit our Tree Care page.
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No. Little Saps are outdoor trees and need fresh air, light, and changing seasons. You can display your tree indoors for up to 5 days, but then it must be moved outside.