BANDERA COUNTY, Texas — Some people wait until the day after Thanksgiving. Others don’t mind serving a Christmas tree right alongside the turkey. No matter your tradition, there’s a quiet Hill Country farm in Bandera County that’s already in the holiday spirit — year-round.

At Pipe Creek Christmas Tree Farm, owner Doug Hingst is busy tending to more than 6,000 trees spread across rows of Afghan pines, Leyland cypress, and Arizona cypress.

“This is a year-round thing,” Hingst said. “Anything with the word ‘farm’ on it has a lot of work behind it.”

The farm was started by Hingst’s father when he retired at the age of 59. Now 95, he still visits the property and helps out whenever he can.

Hingst spends much of his time shearing the trees — a process he repeats at least three times a year

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