Volunteers Plant 3,500 Christmas Trees at The Rocks

A group of volunteers worked quickly and safely on May 3 to plant 3,500 Christmas tree seedlings at The Rocks. The annual event is part of the property's operation as a working tree farm. 

It takes several years to raise a Christmas tree ready for holiday trimming. The seedlings are planted when they are 4 or 5 years old, and are tended for the next 6 to 9 years before they are harvested. 

At The Rocks, we've been growing Christmas trees for over 35 years as part of our land conservation and management efforts. The 1,400-acre estate was given to the Forest Society in 1978 by Martha Batchelder and John Lee, two of the grandchildren of John and Frances Glessner.

In making the gift, Batchelder and Lee asked that the Forest Society always maintain a crop in the field, and for more than three decades, that crop has been Christmas trees.

Learn more about growing Christmas trees at The Rocks and harvesting your own tree each winter.