For Sentimental Reasons: Tennessee Christmas Trees Best Choice for the Season

NASHVILLE – It’s a holiday memory your family will always cherish: the day you all sat down together and flipped through the January sale catalog looking for that perfect half-price artificial tree. The magical look on your children’s faces when you crammed that box onto a dusty shelf in the garage was one you’ll never forget. The anticipation of pulling out that plastic tree and piecing it together next Christmas lasted all through the year.  Sound unlikely? It does to Tennessee’s Christmas tree growers, too.

All across the state, Christmas tree farms are getting ready for the folks who make choosing natural Christmas trees a treasured part of the holiday season. Varieties of trees grown in Tennessee are dependent on elevation and climate, but include White Pine, Virginia Pine, Scotch Pine, Blue Spruce, Norway Spruce and Fraser Fir.

Growers realize that choosing the tree is a memory-making experience and an anticipated holiday project, so they tailor their operations to make the experience as much fun as possible. Many offer hot cider or other refreshments at their farms and sell natural wreaths, roping and garland in addition to trees. Some farms feature wagon rides, educational tours for groups, petting zoos or gift shops on site with all sorts of holiday décor inside. Some growers even conduct on-farm holiday craft classes or host special events which might even include a visit from Santa. Local Christmas tree growers want to make this a great time because they want you to return for years to come, making their farms part of your personal Christmas traditions.

Christmas tree growers are consumer-friendly, usually offering customers several ways to choose the perfect tree. Tree shoppers may wander through groves of uncut trees and cut their own, have trees cut for them, select a freshly cut tree on site at the farm or take a balled and burlapped live tree home for replanting after the Christmas season has passed.

Aside from sentimental reasons, a couple of pretty practical reasons for choosing straight-off-the-farm local trees include cost and quality. The cost of transportation is not included in the price of a tree that’s never left the farm, and there’s no tree fresher than the one you just cut yourself.

To get the most out of your locally grown tree, you need to know what you want and how to take care of it. The first step is to measure the space where you want your tree to go before you head out to the farm.

If you choose a cut tree, its needles should be resilient. Grasp a branch about six inches from its tip between your thumb and forefinger. Pull your hand toward you, allowing the branch to slip through your fingers. The needles should adhere to the branch, not fall off in your hand. Lift a cut tree a few inches off the ground and bring it down abruptly on its stump. Outside green needles should not fall off in substantial numbers, though interior brown needles shed naturally every year. The cut tree should be very fragrant and have a rich color.

When you get home, make a fresh cut across the base of the trunk, or have your tree farmer do that for you before you leave the farm. You might even want to take your tree stand with you so the farmer can fit your tree onto your stand. Always use a water-holding stand, water the tree as soon as possible, and keep the cut covered in water. If the base of the tree dries out, a seal will form and you will need to make a new cut.

Natural trees should be kept cool and safe, away from fireplaces, heaters and televisions. Always unplug lights when you are away from home or before you go to bed, and be sure your light cords are in good working order.

Locate nearby Christmas tree farms by visiting the TDA Market Development Web site at www.picktnproducts.org. For a free listing of Tennessee Christmas trees by mail, call the TDA information hotline at 615-837-5555. The directory listings will include the kinds of trees grown, location, phone numbers and other products and activities that might be available at a given farm.