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!

New Tricks of the Christmas Tree-Growing Trade

New Hampshire Christmas Tree Promotion Board Chairman Nigel Manley attended his 15^th National Christmas Tree Association conference last month, gleaning information on the latest tricks of the Christmas tree growing trade. Nigel, who manages The Rocks Estate in Bethlehem, was one of more than 400 Christmas tree growers from around the United States, Canada, Mexico, and England to attend the convention in Ohio.

Among the tidbits Nigel picked up from this year’s convention – which he shares with his New Hampshire Christmas tree-growing colleagues – were ways to use social media and other new technology to boost marketing efforts, the latest news on the national Trees for Troops program, and information on growing the increasingly popular West Virginia Balsam (also known as the Canaan Fir).

“Only a few growers from our region are able to attend the national convention, so my role is to bring home the latest techniques for everything from pest control to marketing to share with our members,” said Manley. “The information shared at the convention is important to our local Christmas tree growers. The impact for our local growers learning about these things is huge.”