since you asked: When I was growing up on my uncle's farm in the Berkshires, we went "up on the hill " for our Christmas decorations. We always got our tree from our pasture lot. We got ground pine to make our wreaths. W hen I moved back to Connecticut with my Mom, the first adventure I had with Christmas decorations was to get into trouble.
I decided to go into the woods for our Christmas tree. I drove my brother and neighbor pre teen to a forest area where i had noticed many pine and hemlock trees. While tying two trees to the car, along came a car with three people in it. They asked where we had gotten the trees. I answered that we had gotten them from the woods down by the reservoir.
The leader of the three asked who owned the woods in question.
"I think the Water Company owns the land."
"Wrong. I own the land from here on down to the water."
The lady in the group told the owner that "... we should take them to the police..."
The man who had asked the questions suggested "... we don't need to take you anywhere. Take your trees, but just don't come back next year..."
A week later, my mom was at Christmas party. She had always been an outgoing person. She got into a conversation with the town judge. She told of her two children getting into a problem with a local land owner over a couple of trees. The Judge replied, "I think I was your landowner..."
To which my mom got into a long conversation in which the Judge told her we had been very polite and had offered to pay for the trees. They ended being good friends.
The next year, the judge called my mom and offered for us to "go back in his woods to get your tree..." And for the next two years, until I graduated from high school, we always got out tree from the judge's property.
Tinker
PS: My wife, even tho our kids are older than both of us, always gets an advent card with all the goodies for all the kids in the family. She grew up in Germany and continues the practice even tho she has been in the USA for over 60 years.