'Tree Whisperer' Or Greenwich Greed: Your Christmas Tree for a Mere $1K

WEST VILLAGE, NY — Heather Neville, the self-proclaimed "Tree Whisperer" of New York City, has a New York-sized deal for you: A Christmas tree for a mere $1,000.

That's $46.88 a foot for the 16-foot tree. Plus charges.

Neville, who sells her trees in Greenwich Village, Chelsea, SoHo, West Village and the Lower East Side of Manhattan, argues that the tree, a Korean fir, is worth the price because it's hand-picked, extremely hard to get and has uncommon white fir.

“I specialize in exotic species, species that nobody else has,” Neville told Patch. "It’s not a standard, typical Christmas tree."

In addition to per-foot cost, delivery and installation charges bring the total to $1,000, Neville said.

So far, the tree is still awaiting a buyer.

Neville buys her trees from a local award-winning grower that she merely identifies as "The Farmer." While most vendors sell Balsam and Fraser trees, Neville carefully picks her exotic trees from a farm somewhere in the Tri-State area.

According to Wikipedia, Korean firs grow in high altitudes in temperate rainforests. The tree needs high rainfall and humid summers but will thrive in most parts of the country.

Neville has sold Christmas trees in Manhattan for the past 16 years. She dubs herself the "Tree Lady" and the "Tree Whisperer" on her website because of the sixth sense she has in finding customers the perfect tree.

“Some people don’t care, a tree is a tree," Neville said. "But especially in this city, people have dinner parties and stuff, and they like something different.”

Photo by Phil Roeder/Flickr