Christmas Trees

Discussion in 'Conversations Forum' started by Junglekeeper, Dec 22, 2006.

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Which type of Christmas tree do you consider to be more environmentally friendly?

  1. 1. A live tree

    18 vote(s)
    85.7%
  2. 2. An artificial tree

    3 vote(s)
    14.3%
  1. kia796

    kia796 Active Member

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    Location:
    North Okanagan, Canada
    A fellow grower (hi Cathie). We grew 600 Douglas Fir trees for about 10 years on our land in a cut-your-own Christmas farm. Ours were semi-cultured, and it was quite a job to keep them pruned to an optimum shape.

    We employed stump culture (basal pruning), where the customer was instructed to cut above the first whorl, as I had read in Christmas Tree grower manuals. This was a bit of an iffy technique (as the scientists on this site will know). The bottom (remaining) whorl branches do turn up, the most vertical branch is selected and the others removed from the stump. We discovered that even with judicious pruning we never could get the same shape (A shaped, broad at the base, like the original tree). The second tree from the same roots was always narrower at the base than its predecessor.

    I've forgotten how it was explained at the time, it had something to do with the inherent growth characteristics of where the bud was, i.e. you could tip each growth early on, which produced new multiple buds (desirable in culturing) but branches weren't as strong and thick as their counterparts on the other side of the branch, which had been facing down and were now exposed to light. Only the scientists will know the reason, but the other buds were "intended" to form "interior" (darker areas) branches.

    Despite that, I have wonderful memories of families spilling from cars, bedecked in their toques and mittens and tall boots, dad with a bowsaw, heading out to find the "perfect tree". We didn't allow chainsaws. Christmas music was played on the ghetto blaster, and hot chocolate (and refills) kept us busy. Our young daughter took all the little kids for rides on her Snow Racer. Then came tying 6 to 10 foot trees to the roofs of cars, stuffing them into station wagons (which way, honey?), and miles of polypropylene string dispensed. Many people opted for the $5 in town delivery service, and we groaned when we saw the address was an apartment...third floor! We've winched trees up over patios and sundecks, to considerable fanfare from people whose suites the tree passed.

    I'll always remember how fresh the air smelled when walking through the rows in summer. Trees were spaced approx. 8' x 8' to allow for mowing of grass and, as the trees filled out, we couldn't get a mower through anymore.

    Then Tussock Moth hit. One-third of trees displayed the reddish top the first year and, by the next year, tussocks were crawling on the outside of our house. It was over. The remaining crop -- fortunately only about 50 -- was chainsawed and burned.

    You brought back some nice memories Cathie.
    Yup, my vote is for the real tree.
     
  2. Cathie Whitman

    Cathie Whitman Member

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    Location:
    Pitt Meadows, B.C.
    What great sports you are for delivering to apartments! We often give people who live in apartments a branch of Grand Fir just for the fragrance, because they aren't permitted live trees anymore.

    One of my favourite memories is the whole family that finally chooses a tree together after covering the whole 10 acres. Then everyone joins hands to form a circle around the tree, and they sing Christmas carols.

    Last year we had a whole neighbourhood get together and come all at once. That was a lot of fun, and I overheard a few Dads wishing for a wee dram of something warmer that hot chocolate.

    The Tussock moth story is very scary though, and now we worry about SODS and Swiss needle cast, amongst other things. I will check into that today!
     
  3. kia796

    kia796 Active Member

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    Location:
    North Okanagan, Canada
    Grand Fir has a wonderful aroma, Cathie. It was years and years ago, but I recall we almost kicked ourselves re the $5 delivery offer because of the sheer number of requests...what a chore. But there were more laughs than headaches, and returning customers invariably told us that their after-Christmas tree "went back down the same way it arrived, albeit a whole lot faster", ha ha.

    Re tussock moth, your plantation is in Maple Ridge, which is better suited to growing Christmas trees than our south-slope location. The hot drying winds of summer (despite the microjet irrigation system) and the cold drying winds of winter put a lot of stress on the D.fir. And doing that last "beauty pruning" in Nov to prepare for Dec sales wasn't good for the trees either. Our soil was another matter, the wrong pH (about 6.8), I fertilized each year with 21-0-0 to acidify the soil. We couldn't scratch sulphur into the ground because of the amount of shale we have in the soil. I remember when we planted the 600 trees...with a mattock. I can still hear the ping as we hit shale 2" down (and feel the reverberation still in my elbows). I swear we could've lit the driveway with the sparks from that mattock hitting shale.

    I should've realized that D.fir on this property...as a commercial venture...would be iffy because of the stress the trees were obviously under. Sure, they looked healthy (nitrogen, sulphur), but I've heard it said that bugs will "find" stressed trees.

    It was a sad day when we realized what the reddish look to the tops really meant, and despite spraying (I forgot what we used), it was a lost cause.
    And then the next year, when all ages of tussock moths (tiny young ones, skinny young adults, and the longer mature adults) were crawling ON THE HOUSE, we knew we were done. But by then we had received most of the potential revenue, and burned the remainder of the stock.

    Yet today, nearly 20 years later, the nicest trees on our property (that weren't struck by moths, and were in a location where they provided good screening for the house) are D.fir. The base does look strange (because of the basal pruning), but few visitors know what it is.

    Enjoy your tree farm, Cathie. Making families happy is a wonderful way to make a living.
     

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