The Life of a Christmas Tree

December 9th, 2014

If you’ve ever watched a back-yard fir turn brown as toast in an August heat wave or a spruce get eaten alive by bagworms, you have a glimpse into the life of a Christmas-tree grower.

Rod and Tyler Wert fertilize a stand of young Christmas trees at their Blue Ridge Christmas Tree Farm in Lebanon County.

Rows of perfectly trimmed evergreens might magically materialize this time every year, but it’s no easy feat getting them there.

Growing a conifer for Christmas use involves an array of year-round work over the average 7 years it takes to nurse a tree from sapling to cuttable size.

And much can wrong in that time… bugs, disease, weed assault, root-rotting in week-long deluges, deer browsing and much more.

It’s a wonder any are left to sell by the end of the 7 years.

One of the misconceptions about live, cut Christmas trees is their origin.

Generations ago, people and tree-sellers would go into the woods to cut whatever they could find.

These days, virtually all cut trees you’ll find for sale originated on a Christmas-tree farm. They were planted specifically for “harvest” as a Christmas-time product, much as corn or soybeans are planted for consumption.

So if you’re averse to cut trees because it seems like a cruel massacre of nature’s gift, scratch that off the concern list. Without demand for cut trees, all of those Fraser firs wouldn’t have been planted in the first place.

As you might’ve noticed in your own yard, conifers are picky about where they’ll grow.

Specifically, most of them don’t like “wet feet.” The roots of most firs, pines and spruce will rot in just a few days of soggy soil.

That’s why Christmas-tree growers look for well drained fields with ample soil depth, often on slightly hilly land that gets good air flow.

Most growers start with baby saplings bought from starter nurseries. They’re typically already 3 to 5 years old from seed at that point.

As extra protection against rotting, the trend these days is “hilling” – tilling the planting beds into slightly raised mounds.

While that helps in wet weather, it also jacks up the risk in dry weather. Roots dry faster in raised mounds.

Irrigation would guard against that, but few growers find it worth investing in irrigation systems. Get an evergreen through the first year or two, and it really doesn’t need supplemental water (except in a harsh drought).

So for new plantings, it’s basically a matter of getting those saplings in the ground in April, then hoping for at least occasional rain that first year.

While planting to replace last year’s harvest is one of the season’s first jobs, there’s also the matter of weed control.

Most growers start the spring by applying a pre-emergent herbicide to stop new weeds from germinating and also a weed-killer to get rid of anything unwanted already up in the rows.

Then it’s time to fertilize. Scattering a granular fertilizer by hand or by spreader is the usual method.

The trick is getting just the right amount. Too much and the trees put out a lot of leggy growth that only has to be pruned off anyway. Too little and you get poor color or stunted growth.

One of the most time-consuming, ongoing jobs also starts in spring.

The grass strips between the tree rows need to be mowed at least every few weeks from spring through fall.

April into early summer is when bugs and disease become an issue.

Numerous pests from mites to sawfly larvae can threaten trees, and different species are prone to differing diseases.

The top-selling Fraser fir – the so-called “Cadillac of Christmas trees” – is particularly sensitive to a soil-borne, root-rotting disease called phytophthora. It’s difficult to control, and growers often end up yanking dead whole sections of Frasers and replacing them with another conifer species – or hay.

Another disastrous needle-killing disease is rhabdocline, which primarily affects the No. 2 favorite – Douglas fir.

This one can be controlled by spraying, but it usually means four applications of a fungicide.

Depending on weather and that year’s vagaries, bug and disease threats usually taper off by summer.

But that’s when it’s time to prune the trees.

Evergreens don’t automatically grow into the perfectly tapered, tightly flush form that you see at the retail lots.

They’ve been trimmed multiple times – usually once a season.

Rod Wert uses what looks like a weed whacker with blades on the end to prune his Christmas trees.

Growers can do the deed in many ways. Some use a long-bladed chainsaw. Some use long-handled, gas-powered cutters that look like a weed-whacker with rotary blades on the business end. And others whack with people-powered, long knives that look like machetes.

Whatever the weapon, it’s a tree-by-tree project that can stretch on for weeks in summer.

Mowing and weed control are other summer-into-fall jobs.

A few trees might get a shot of early-fall fertilizer, and soon after that, it’s time to begin the harvest.

Since almost all Christmas-tree sales take place in a 3-week period between Thanksgiving and mid-December, the cutting window is short.

Trees that are coming from out of state (Oregon, North Carolina and Michigan are the top 3 producers) are the first to be cut – sometimes as early as late October.

Ones coming from Pennsylvania (the No. 4 producer) can stay up longer and still make it to lots by Thanksgiving.

Central Pennsylvania is rich in small Christmas-tree growers, and so a good way to get the freshest possible tree is to go to a farm and cut it yourself.

McCurdy’s Tree Farm, Blue Ridge Christmas Tree Farm,  Misty Run Tree Farm, Gruver’s Tree Farm, and Strathmeyer Forests Inc. are just a few of the area’s choose-and-cut operations.

More farms, as well as farm markets and retail lots selling local trees, are listed at these web sites: www.christmastrees.org and http://pickyourownchristmastree.org.

Those inter-holiday weeks are a blur for growers and especially retail sellers and cut-your-own farms.

But once all of those cut trees are warmly nestled and lighted in many a living room, the rush is abruptly over.

That’s when a Christmas-tree grower – like a bagworm or rhabdocline bacteria – finally goes dormant.

Until a new cycle begins.