There’s no snow, but the Hagan family pulled on their coats in search of a Christmas tree Saturday afternoon and found themselves at the HSH Tree Farm in Shady Shores.

DRC/Gary Payne

Amanda Smith, left, laughs as her mother, Edie Hagan, celebrates cutting down a Virginia pine for the family Christmas tree at HSH Tree Farm on Saturday in Shady Shores.

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For the first time in three years, the only Christmas tree farm in Denton County is open for business after years of dry weather kept the trees from growing to a saleable size.

When the Hagan family found their tree on the 2.5-acre lot, it was up to their grown daughter, Amanda Smith, to cut it down.

“I don’t even think I can get under it,” Smith said, peering under the tree’s boughs.

“I can get under it,” Mark Hagan said.

“I don’t think …” Smith hemmed and hawed, finally taking off her jacket.

“Come on girl.”

“There’s no way.”

“Get over there and cut the tree down.”

“Shut up!”

Smith pulled off her jacket and kneeled on the ground with a small saw in one hand. She tucked strands of long, blond hair behind one ear and focused on the base of the 7-foot-tall tree.

Pat York, known as the knot man at HSH Tree Farm, encouraged her and offered some advice to her boyfriend, Bryan Harris, who was holding the tree upright.

“Pull the tree back,” York said. “Then the blade won’t pinch it.”

It took a few minutes and some sweat, but she cut down the family’s first fresh-cut Christmas tree.

Like other Christmas tree farms, HSH Tree Farm lets customers walk their acreage to find their tree, chop it down and then take it home on the top of their vehicle.

This is the first year the tree farm has kept regular business hours since years of dry weather, said owner Tom Spencer.

The only Christmas tree farm in Denton County sold about 20 trees in 2007, by appointment only.

“Smaller growers just can’t grow fast enough,” Spencer said. “It takes four years to grow a saleable tree.”

This year, the business has already sold about 50 trees, and Spencer said he expects to sell a few more before the holidays are through.

The trees are Virginia pines, the only kind of pine tree able to grow in the southern climate, Spencer said.

The trees are trimmed in April and July to keep their natural candelabra shape looking like a Christmas tree. As they grow, they are paired up with similarly sized trees so light can be distributed equally, he said.

“Most people think of height, not girth,” Spencer said. “A big tree is a handsome thing, but people need the area for them.”

Customers can scan the miniature pine forest with the aid of a 10-foot walking stick. Comparing tree sizes against the stick, customers can get an idea if the tree can fit in their home.

It usually takes about 20 minutes of walking around, measuring trees against each other, before they know which ones will aid them in celebrating the holidays.

Chopping down the Christmas tree is part of family tradition, said Doug Hoerner from Corinth.

The entire Hoerner family came out Saturday to help pick out a tree.

DRC/Gary Payne

Doug Hoerner, left, and Pat York of HSH Tree Farm in Shady Shores carry a 9-foot Virginia Pine after cutting it down Saturday in Shady Shores.

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Daughter Holly, 10, tapped on the switch that shakes dead pine needles lose, and son Kyle, 7, helped his father get the tree onto the family sport utility vehicle.

Sandra Hoerner said she’s already thinking of ways to keep her newly mobile 8-month-old son, Tyler, away from the tree.

Although some customers say the experience is about finding the perfect tree for Christmas, Spencer said that most trees have at least one major flaw.

But to some customers, the flaws seem to make the tree that much more endearing.

“Perfection is in the eye of the beholder,” Spencer said.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.