a year in the life of a Christmas tree farmer

a year in the life...JanuaryJanuary to March

Another year starts and the first job is to prune back the lowest set of branches on around 4000 Nordman Firs. This is a back breaking and time consuming task, but is required to improve the look of the tree. Next we need to mark out and by hand plant 5000 young trees.

a year in the life...JanuaryApril to June

As the weather warms up, aphid and weed populations increase, requiring careful control. Also to help create a typical Christmas Tree appearance we remove certain buds, to make the tree thicken. Then the buds finally burst and their annual growth begins, nature then takes over.

a year in the life...JanuaryJuly to September

We start the third quarter by shearing or shaping our Fraser Firs, which is an annual task. Next comes some general maintenance, fence repair or renewal and then we prepare the ground for next years planting. This requires lots of ground working, ploughing, fertilising, tilling and rolling.

a year in the life...JanuaryOctober to December

This is our busiest period. We start by stock taking, ordering tree stands and finalising our marketing arrangements. Then the sales period begins and we are rushed off our feet, making wreaths, harvesting and selling our Christmas trees, hopefully adding a little something to your Christmas experience.