Forest Journal: O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

The first Christmas Tree Farm in the United States is credited to a man named William McGalliard in White Horse, NJ, who in 1901 planted 25,000 Norway spruce in his back acreage with the hope that customers would arrive to cut and purchase them when they grew large enough. It turns out Mr. McGalliard was on to something, but Christmas tree farming didn’t really take off as an industry until half a century later, following World War II. Until that time, most American families who wanted a fresh-cut holiday tree had to tromp into their local woods and seek out a wild-grown evergreen.

Today there are more than 15,000 Christmas Tree farms across the country, in all 50 states (yes, even including Florida and Hawaii!). For many families, cutting their own holiday tree is a cherished annual tradition that can involve multiple generations, family pets, and plenty of holiday cheer. The cut-your-own outing is by definition a local experience, and regional differences in climate and geography really define what kind of freshly cut tree you install and decorate in your living room.

There are several regions in the US that grow a lot of Christmas trees. One is the Pacific Northwest, led by Oregon with more than 4.8 million trees cut and sold on an annual basis. The species that are typically grown in this region include Douglas Fir, Noble Fir, and Nordmann Fir. The Carolinas, and North Carolina in particular, is another hotspot, with 3.2 million trees cut annually. Here the Fraser Fir, native to the southern Appalachian Mountains, is the preferred species. 

In warmer regions of the country, fir trees can’t be grown, but other evergreen families such as pine and cypress thrive. Leyland cypress, Arizona cypress and Virginia pine are common in the deep south, and species like Norfolk pine are cultivated for the cut-your-own market in Hawaii. These trees look very different from what we’re used to in the Northeast, but thankfully “festiveness” is subjective and geographically variable. 

“For most growers, first and foremost it’s about selecting tree species that will grow well in your area,” says Nigel Manley, senior outreach manager and former tree farm manager at The Rocks Christmas tree farm owned by the Forest Society in Bethlehem, NH. “After that, it’s about species with the best pest resistance and growth rates. Then, of course, customer preferences come into play as well. People often want the same thing they had when they were growing up. There’s a nostalgic element to it for sure.”

When included along with the provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia, the northeastern US states and Canada are also a major center of Christmas tree production. Compared to Quebec, which sells more than 2 million trees annually, New Hampshire is a small producer. According to a USDA Census of Agriculture report there were 278 Christmas tree farms in New Hampshire in 2022, and 79,000 holiday trees were harvested. Most of these farms are relatively small compared to those in Oregon or North Carolina, and they provide trees just for the local New England market. 

Balsam fir and Fraser fir have been the most important commercial Christmas tree species in NH in recent decades. Balsam is the only fir species native to northern New England, and it’s prized for its aromatic needles. Fraser fir, popular for its excellent needle retention once cut, hails from further south but because it prefers cooler, high elevation habitats it can also be grown in New Hampshire. 

But these stalwart varieties could be changing.

 “With the changing climate, some northern NH growers are wondering how much longer we’ll be able to grow Fraser fir. It’s just too wet in many areas now” says Manley. Increasing unpredictability of frost and freezing rain events in spring is also a factor.  

Already, many local farms prefer to grow a cultivar of balsam fir called Canaan Fir, partly because it buds out much later than the local variety of balsam fir. That means it’s less susceptible to bud freeze, and it’s also more resistant to native conifer pests like gall midge and twig aphid.

 “If you’ve got wild balsam fir stands budding at the same time as your farm trees, and there is a pest infestation in the forest population, it’s more likely to affect your farm,” explains Manley. “Growing species and varieties with asynchronous timing to wild trees can be good integrated pest management.”

An up-and-coming variety of fir tree for cultivation in the northeast is Korean fir, native to Jeju Island and mountainous regions of South Korea. When crossed with balsam fir, the resulting “Korean cross” hybrid trees are promising because their buds emerge even later than Canaan and Fraser firs, they’re not as picky about wet soils, and they are fast growers. Compared to a Fraser fir, which might take 8-10 years to reach the perfect holiday tree height of 7’ 6”, Korean cross firs can attain this mark in 5 to 7 years. That’s a lot of savings, since a great deal of work (and cost) goes into a year of tending Christmas trees.

“A lot of people mistakenly think Christmas tree farming is easy money- just plant some trees and reap a profit a handful of years later- but that’s just not the reality,” says Nigel Manley.

Tree plantations need to be mowed frequently, fertilized and limed. Each tree needs to have new cones removed and requires shearing (shaping with a large knife) annually in order to grow dense green foliage and obtain that perfect conical shape. If you’ve ever foraged a wild tree from the forest, you know that even when they get plenty of sunlight, wild trees are sparse and gangly compared to their cultivated cousins. “Charlie Brown” Christmas trees work for some, but many families are looking for the type of tree that only comes from years of careful pruning, weeding and tending.  

At The Rocks’ Christmas tree farm, the Forest Society is planting fewer Fraser fir and more Canaan fir in recent years and experimenting with Korean cross cultivars. 

“We’re just going to have to adapt,” concludes Manley, “here in New Hampshire and around the country.”  

Don’t let that stress out your Christmas season, though.  There are still thousands of trees to wander through and choose your perfect specimen this holiday season, at The Rocks and many other cut-your-own farms statewide. Take a deep breath of that fir-scented fresh air and let it out slowly. Christmas traditions have been adapting and changing for centuries- it’s the holiday spirit that matters most!

Carrie Deegan is VP for Recreation Management & Public Engagement for the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests.  Contact her at cdeegan@forestsociety.org