Choosing the perfect farm fresh Christmas tree

A farm fresh Christmas tree, grown with care and expertise at a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm is the perfect start to your holiday decorating. With Christmas tree season now upon us, we offer the following tips for choosing YOUR perfect tree:

* First, make sure you know how tall and how wide you want your Christmas tree to be before you visit your favorite New Hampshire Christmas tree farm. It’s often hard to picture the room you’ll place your Christmas tree when you’re in a field surrounded by beautiful firs.

* Once you’re at the farm – either in the field or at the retail lot – make sure you measure your selected tree to ensure it is the size you want! (This may sound simple, but many a tree trimmer has had to lop off a chunk of tree top to make a Christmas tree fit in the living room!)

* New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers grow a variety of tree types, from the most common Balsam and Fraser firs to the more unusual Korean and Canaan firs and other species. Different types of trees have different qualities, so check with the staff at the Christmas tree farm, or visit the National Christmas Tree Association website http://www.christmastree.org/types.cfm before you go, to find out which tree type is best for you.

* Let the whole family join in the fun of choosing the perfect tree! Many New Hampshire Christmas tree farms offer refreshments, gift shops, and other activities on the farm, so you can create a day of family fun around bringing your tree home.

You can find more ideas from New Hampshire Christmas tree growers at our website, where we have more tree selection tips and a tree care page with tips for keeping your Christmas tree fresh through the season.

Happy Holidays!

'Tis the Season - Of Planting and Pruning

Christmas tree farmers throughout New Hampshire have been busy the past few weeks planting fir tree seedlings and fertilizing endless rows of growing Christmas trees.

It takes several years – and hours of hands-on care – for a tiny seedling, like the one shown in this photo, to grow into someone's perfect Christmas tree. While most folks don’t consider a tree until it’s time to select one for holiday trimming, New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers spend much of the spring and summer tending to their crops – from planting the seedlings to top pruning and side pruning each tree by hand later in the summer.

With many thousands of acres throughout the state dedicated to growing Christmas trees, and about 1,000 trees planted per acre – well, that’s a lot of tender loving Christmas tree care!

Decking the Halls… and Doors, Railings, Windows and More!

The Christmas tree is the centerpiece of a home’s holiday decorations. But wreaths – hung on doors, porch rails, or above the mantle – also add festive color and holiday joy to the cold days of winter. Many New Hampshire Christmas tree farms offer a variety of wreaths for sale – from plain to elaborately decorated, and everything in between.
Holiday wreaths are typically made on site at New Hampshire Christmas tree farms, using leftover greens – and creating jobs in the local economy. Some hold a simple red bow, while others are bedecked with pinecones, berries, and other natural adornments. Many farms even offer whimsically-themed wreaths featuring New Hampshire critters like moose and bear.

If you like to go beyond simply decking the halls, some New Hampshire Christmas tree farms also sell garlands in various lengths, for twining around lampposts, railings, and windows. Visit our map to find a link to your favorite New Hampshire Christmas tree farm and see what it has to offer, either on site or through mail order.

Happy decorating!

Visit a NH Christmas Tree Farm and Find the Perfect Tree

The crispness of fall may still be in the air, but Christmas is just around the corner! Now is the perfect time to plan your trip to a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm and find the perfect tree for your family. 

With nearly 200 Christmas Tree farms, New Hampshire offers something for all tree shoppers – whether you want to meander the fields to select and cut your own tree or choose one from the lot, spend an hour or a make shopping for your Christmas tree a weekend excursion.

Some New Hampshire Christmas tree farms offer craft fairs, weekend lodging deals with area inns, and gift shops where you’ll find beautiful holiday wreaths, pretty tree ornaments, and unique gifts.

Check our New Hampshire Christmas tree farm map to find a tree farm near your home. Or make it a destination shopping experience – pick a farm a bit down the road and stay awhile.

Christmas Made Easy - Ordering your christmas tree and wreaths online

If you can’t make it to a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm this season, don’t fret – many tree farms offer mail order Christmas tree and holiday wreath sales. Check out the NH Christmas Tree Farm Directory to find a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm that will happily send a tree or wreath right to your doorstep, whether you live in New Hampshire or across the country.

Trees are cut fresh and packed in wax-lined cartons to keep them fresh and fragrant. 

Your home will be filled with the beautiful, warm scent of Christmas when your tree arrives! Wreaths are made right at the farms from fresh fir clippings and decorated to your liking.

Trees and wreaths are generally shipped via FedEx and can be ordered now for holiday delivery.

Support Local Tree Farms, Buy a NH Christmas Tree!

Trimming the Tree – A Christmas Tradition

Whether your family places a star, an angel, or some other ornament atop your Christmas tree each year is part of your own holiday decorating tradition. Although the ritual of using evergreens to represent eternal life in winter is older than Christianity, the custom of decorating evergreen trees as a symbol of the Christmas season started 500 years ago and became commonplace in the United States in the mid-19^th Century.

The first record of a decorated tree is in 1510 in Latvia, where a tree was bedecked with roses, symbolic of the Virgin Mary. By the 1700s, evergreen branches were often adorned with apples, nuts, and colored strips of paper in Germany and Austria. Tree trimmers in France added lighted candles to Christmas trees.

In the 1800s, Christmas trees first appeared in the U.S., introduced by German settlers. By mid-century, trees cut from forests were being sold commercially. Fruit, nuts, toys, and glass ornaments were early popular tree decorations.

In 1848, Queen Victoria – whose mother was German – did much to popularize the decorated Christmas tree when a depiction of her gathered with her family around a tree hung with tinsel, beads, and candles appeared in the Illustrated London News (shown at right).

The first White House Christmas Tree, now a Presidential holiday tradition, was decorated in 1856 when New Hampshire’s Franklin Pierce was President.

Artificial trees first appeared in the late 1800s, and in the early 20^th century, some conservations encouraged people to use artificial trees as the natural supply of evergreen trees dwindled. President Theodore Roosevelt, a staunch environmentalist, refused to have a Christmas tree in his White House – until his sons, aided by famous conservationist Gifford Pinchot, convinced the President that when properly harvested, the cutting of Christmas trees was actually beneficial to forests.

The first Christmas tree farm was planted in 1901 in New Jersey, and during the 1930s President Franklin Roosevelt grew Christmas trees at his Hyde Park, New York, estate.

Tree trimming has evolved considerably in five centuries. With electricity, of course, came the easily lighted tree. Decorations now range from traditional tinsel, toys, and glass orbs to whimsical snowmen and Santas and ornaments depicting anything from tourist sites to cartoon characters.

Whether you string popcorn and cranberries for your tree or hang it with sparkling silver tinsel, use brightly colored lights or plain white, chances are your family has a special Christmas tree decorating tradition that brings the holiday spirit home.