Christmas Trees Christmas trees are an icon around this time of year. It doesn’t fail while driving down the road and there’s a car with a tree strapped on the hood. Christmas trees come in a variety of different shapes, size, and color and yes smell. Before starting a Christmas tree farm, one must figure out what type of trees they want to have, or what variety they want. The most common types of trees that would be found in a person’s tree stand would be Douglas fir, Fraser Fir, Noble Fir, Scotch pine, Eastern White Pine, Virginia Pine, Grand Fir, and Eastern Red Cedar.
Douglas fir have soft needles with a dark green in color. The needles can reach to an inch in half. The needles have a sweet fragrance when crushed, most common Christmas tress species. The Fraser Fir have branches that face up, with an excellent scent as well. They have a blue-green color. These trees are easy for shipping. Noble Fir are known for their beauty. They have strong branches to hang ornaments, and are used well for wreaths and garland. Scotch pine have needles that are an inch in length and have a bright green color. The needles will not fall off the tree when dry. It is also a common tree because of the freshness it keeps through the holidays. Eastern White Pine have soft green needles. It has a strong scent, and produces decorative pine cones. Virginia Pine is the most unusual as it can tolerate warmer winter temperatures. The tree is smaller than the other varieties, and is more common in the south. Grand Fir trees are more rounded. The needles have a dark green top layer, and a white under tuck. Mostly grown where summers are cool and winters are long. The Eastern Red Cedar are more common on the east coast of North America. The tree has strong smell and has a strong tolerance to drought. Christmas trees are grown in places where land is free of other plants or landscapes. The top producing states are Oregon, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Washington. There needs to be proper drainage, and grown in soils with a loam or sandy loam soils. Avoid sandy and heavy clay soils. The trees should be planted on fairly flat ground, as slopes have a risk of soil erosion. When planting trees, the beginning process is very time consuming. The roots are never allowed to dry out. If this happens it can stunt growth or kill the tree entirely. Many farms have placed a drip irrigation system throughout the farm, so the trees can get the proper nutrients. Along with proper watering comes insect pest control. Insecticide gets sprayed at specific time cycles. Throughout the year, the farmer and employees go out and trim the trees to the triangle shape we are all used to seeing. The average growing time for Christmas trees is about seven years. When ready for harvest, depending on the operation there are different options. Choose and cut, which allows the customer to go out in the lot and find the tree they want and cut it down themselves. There are whole sale operations where the farmer has to go out and cut down, and bale the trees himself. This process is more labor induced. With many productions, when a tree is cut down, two seedlings are planted the following spring. In the 1800’s, German settlers brought the Christmas tree over to the United States, and in 1851 they began to sell commercially from the forest. In the early 1900’s conservationists started questioning this production, as over harvesting began to happen. In 1901 the first Christmas tree farm was started by W.V McGalliard. He planted 25,000 Norway spruce trees in New Jersey. At this time when Theodore Roosevelt was president, he wanted the tree industry to stop as he thought it was destroying the environment. His sons put a stop to that by bringing in Gifford Pinchot, which influenced him that when controlled correctly it’s not harmful. In 1930, his brother Franklin Roosevelt started his own form in New York. About 30 years later the National Christmas Tree Association began the tradition of having the First Lady display the grand champion tree in the White House. In 1966 Howard Pierce of Black River Fall, Wisconsin, won and lit up the White House for Lyndon Johnson. A few year ago in Neshkoro, Wisconsin, there was a tree that won and was presented to Barack Obama.
Just like every other plant, Christmas trees have diseases and pests to watch out for. One major insect is the Nantucket pine tip moth. This insect damages the lateral branches in the peak of growing season. To control these pests, workers monitor the insects life cycles. When the insects are at a certain peak, that’s when insecticide spray is used to control them. Annosus Root Rot is commonly found in fields with stumps that are not removed, and the new trees being close to them. Signs that the tree has it is small white mounds on the bark near the ground. Once the spotting of this disease happens, keep an eye out for other types of root disease. Some management is to treat freshly cut stumps of trees with borax to prevent infection. Another disease is Phytophthora Root Rot. Commonly noticed at the base of the tree, the bottom branches are brown and dead. Scouting the field and checking for cankers on the cambium, or dig by the roots and check for rotten roots. To stop this, one can improve the drainage of the field, start over and replant. Other than insects and other fungal pathogens, growers have to worry about larger animals like deer, gophers, and squirrels. Some birds are also considered pests as they feed on conifers buds. In the United States, there is about 350,000 acres of Christmas tree farms. With that there are about 15,000 Christmas tree farms with about 100,000 people employed in this business. On the National Christmas Tree Association website, they show that in 2013 the average amount spent on a Christmas tree was $35. With 33 million trees purchased, the retail value of that is $1.16 billion. What many producers are having troubles with is the used of fake Christmas trees. Many people are buying fake trees as a convenience, or less of a mess. The consumer thinks that they are doing a favor by not cutting down a poor tree, just to throw it away. When in reality fake trees are more damaging to the environment. Artificial trees contain a non-biodegradable plastic and possibly have lead in them. The average family uses a tree less than ten years, which then goes to a landfill and never decompose. Most of these trees are imported from China. The idea of artificial tree idea came from a company that made toilet bowl brushes. Real Christmas trees are recyclable, and can be used for things, such as mulch. There are many ways and organizations that will take Christmas trees. Recycling centers, Boy scout groups, tree/ mulching programs, many of these are low cost, if any cost. Other uses for Christmas trees are bird feeders and soil erosion barriers. Christmas trees bring beauty and life to people around the holiday season. Whether it’s with flashing lights, or popcorn string. To grow Christmas trees is a time consuming and an investment. As the farmer pays for land, and other processes before starting to grow the trees, and then have to wait up to seven years to begin to profit from his or her hard work. The next time you choose to go out and buy a real Christmas tree, thank the person for all the hard work they have put into it.

Works Cited
"National Christmas Tree Association Education History of Christmas Trees."National Christmas Tree Association Education History of Christmas Trees. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2014
"National Christmas Tree Association Education History of Christmas Trees. National Christmas Tree Association Education History of Christmas Trees. N.p., 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2014.
"News Archives." UWEX Cooperative Extension--CES News. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Dec. 20