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Your Friendly Neighborhood Christmas Tree Farm

Everyone remembers Clark Griswold driving into the middle of nowhere looking for the perfect tree, but you don’t have to. Christmas tree farms are a much better source for your Christmas tree.

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The Christmas tree tradition in America was made popular by German immigrants who brought it from their former homeland. Today, a Christmas tree (even a miniature one) is prominent in many homes, offices and public squares at Christmastime.

Natural or Artificial?

There are a variety of reasons that people choose artificial Christmas trees. They’re convenient, reusable and you don’t have to kill anything.

Even so, enough people enjoy the nostalgia and the aroma of a natural Christmas tree to keep tree farms hopping around the holidays. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, about 25-30 MILLION natural Christmas trees are sold each year.

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If you live in the country as I do, you probably can’t go five miles in any direction without passing a Christmas tree farm. In fact, there are up to 350 MILLION natural Christmas trees growing on farms nationwide in the United States.

For those who prefer the city, natural Christmas trees will often be brought in by the truckloads and sold in open lots, garden centers or as fundraisers for Scout troops and other civic organizations. You can even buy natural Christmas trees from Amazon these days!

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Before you go shopping for a Christmas tree, you’ll want to decide where you want to put it. Placing your tree near heating vents, radiators, sunny windows, or fireplaces is definitely a bad idea. Instead, place your tree in a more insulated spot where people can still see it.

Use a tape measure to measure the height of your ceiling and the width of the space you’ve selected. Also, measure your tree stand to know the diameter of the tree trunk you should pick. If you have eight feet of vertical space in your room, you’re not going to want to buy an eight-foot tree because it’s not actually going to fit.

Be sure to include the combined height of your tree stand, the tree and the height of your treetop decoration in your calculations. Remember to bring your tape measure and the paper you wrote these measurements down on. You should also bring construction gloves to protect your hands from scratches and sap.

If you’re looking for a live tree, check the limbs to make sure they are nice and green. Look out for any brown needles, which may be a sign of a tree that has not been freshly cut. A tree that is too dry could be a fire hazard, so watch out for any signs of dehydration or other symptoms of a damaged tree. Choose one that looks full and healthy with beautiful branches. This will help your tree most look festive when you get it home and decorate it.

If you’re going to be loading the tree onto your car, place a protective sheet, tarp or blanket down before putting it on. This will protect your car from scratches, or sap, on the way home. Make sure that you use a strong rope to secure the tree to your roof with the top to the front of the vehicle. When you get it home, be sure not to take it inside immediately. Stage it somewhere transitional like a garage or shed, where it can acclimatize. Water your tree so that it will last longer and stay fresher.

Important Tree Tips

The most common and popular time to pick out a tree is two to three weeks before Christmas, but the best time to shop for your Christmas tree is actually in mid-November. If you want the best quality natural tree, you should shop at a reputable Christmas tree farm or a nice retail location. Pick out the best tree that you can afford that meets the measurements you brought from home.

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If you want to be sure the tree is still fresh, grab a branch and slide your hand towards you. If only a few needles fall off, you have found yourself a healthy tree. A strong fragrance is another way you can tell if a tree is fresh.

After freshness, the next thing to look for in your tree is a good, uniform shape. You don’t want huge gaps between the branches and make sure it’s not leaning on one side. Choose a tree with a firm, solid base.

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Picking Your Tree

Among Christmas trees, there are certain types that are always favorites as well as being bestsellers. Popular firs include Balsam, Douglas, Fraser and Noble. Favorite Christmas pine varieties include Scotch, Virginia and White. These evergreen trees all have one or more excellent features related to shape, color or sheen and fragrance, which makes them favorites for Christmas trees.

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One of the great things about many Christmas tree farms is that they not only want to provide a variety of quality trees for you to choose from, but they also want you to have a pleasant experience.

The savvy Christmas tree farmer will sell accessories, ornaments, games and seasonal treats to make your stay more pleasurable. Some may even feature horse-drawn sleigh rides!

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Many families like to cut down their own Christmas tree. This is a really fun family activity that can build joyful memories of the Christmas season. Christmas tree farms are located just about everywhere. Check into a local grower’s group for locations. You simply show up with a saw (this is mom or dad’s job) and go searching. Depending on the size of the tree farm, you might walk only a short distance. On a larger farm, you might have to hike up and down hills and far into the farm’s expanse to find just the right tree.

Why Not You?

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The other side of the equation is the Christmas tree farmers themselves. Some have been at it for generations and some have only recently started.

If you have a sizable property and you are looking for a highly profitable, evergreen crop, Christmas trees have been in demand for well over a century. It takes ten to twelve years for a tree to mature from seedling to harvest-ready, but it is a highly desired commodity on an annual basis.

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The Christmas tree industry currently employs up to 100,000 people in full and part-time positions nationwide. The crop is renewable, with up to three seedlings planted for every Christmas tree that is cut down.

The industry provides upwards of 350,000 acres of green space in America. Each acre provides enough oxygen for 18 people, which winds up being 6.3 BILLION people served just by the existing Christmas tree farms in the United States!

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Watch this webinar on how to get started in the Christmas tree industry.
It presents production requirements, as well as,
business management considerations in Christmas Tree operations.

Whether you want to dive into Christmas tree farming or just make visiting your local Christmas tree farm a new family tradition, I hope you can see that it is a vital and vibrant part of our economy as well as a beneficial green resource for the world at large.