Growing Christmas Trees

[MoonShadows]

When we moved here 21 years ago and cleared a field from the woods, and we toyed with the idea of growing Christmas trees....we never did.

Today, I ordered 100 each of Fraser Fir, Balsam and Douglas Fir seeds. I am going to start them in the greenhouse and then transplant them outside in the Spring. Our area is good for growing these 3 popular Christmas Trees. If they do OK, I may just start ordering them every year.

Even if we have only a 50% germination and survival rate, that will leave us with 150 trees each in 8-10 years. At $25 a tree (and that's cheap around here), that's not a bad "cushion" of cash going into the winter with little labor.

May not work at all....but, what the heck.....

 

[frustratedearthmother]

It's worth a try - good luck!

 

[Hinotori]

Best of luck. There are quite a few tree farms around here that seem to do ok. It's income that doesn't take a ton of time out of the year.

 

[MoonShadows]

Heck, even if it doesn't work out, I'll never have to buy our Christmas tree again in about 7-8 years.

 

[Hinotori]

I know there is some sort of pruning you have to do to make them grow bushy instead of into forest trees.

 

[MoonShadows]

Yup. The PennState Extension website has a lengthy article on Christmas Tree production covering everything from sight selection, marketing, production, maintenance, pests to diseases and more, and I have been reading a lot of similar sites too. Large tree farms use what is called a power pruner. You can use pruning shears or hedge clippers to prune which will stimulate a fuller tree. A faster method is to use a sharpened machete or a rotary knife which is not much more than a weed whacker with blades instead of string. I watched a video of a guy using two long machetes. He was able to prune a tree in under 30 seconds.

 

[waretrop]

i wanted to plant evergreens but I don't want to give up y park like setting....Such choices.....