Comfort and Joy

by Jake Farley

Take a stroll down memory lane among the fragrant trees of Yuletide. Remember when your parents brought in the Christmas tree and straightened it in its stand and fresh, cold needles brushed against your clothes, spreading scent of the forest around the room? Then you let the branches relax as boxes with fragile glass balls and Santas wrapped in thin tissue waited almost sacredly to be hung in just the right spot? And the tinsel-made of lead with a crinkly sparkle that doesn't exist anymore? And the lights - big, bright, colorful bulbs that were easily replaced.

It was a family ritual then and now. At Christmas tree farms around the region, parents and children confer on which conifer will adorn their home. They trundle through snow, bundled and braced against wind on the hunt for the perfect tree.

Live trees represent the true tradition of Christmas and bring their fragrance and beauty indoors. They emit a sense of calm, offering a time to slow down, reflect, enjoy.

As trees bring their spirit to the great indoors, they also have many ecological benefits in the outdoor world, both in the field and later when recycled. While they grow they help prevent soil erosion and produce oxygen for people to breathe. Evergreen trees have great wildlife value as shelter and nesting habitat to both predators and prey. Mice build nests with milkweed down in blue spruce. In the fields themselves, many tree farmers erect nesting boxes for bluebirds.

Recycled evergreens are chipped and used as mulch for sand dune stabilization and in clean ups because their needles tie up contaminants such as lead and oil. Trees chip for mulch for gardens, highways, hiking trails and parks.

Real trees are a renewable resource. "For environmental purposes, wildlife and recycling, live trees outshine everything else," says John Perry, executive secretary of the New Jersey Christmas Tree Growers Association. "What do you do with an old artificial tree? Take it to the dump! Real trees rot down into the soil."

"There are many reasons to buy Christmas trees from local farms instead of the corner lot," says Kathy Kogut, executive director of the Connecticut Christmas Tree Growers Association. "It helps the local economy, and the land the trees are grown on provides tax money to the state.

"Plus, you know where the tree is coming from. What if it's grown somewhere else with disease like the balsam tree aphid or fungus or scale? It can infest other trees. The state of Connecticut has very strict nursery inspections. If there is any disease or fungus on the trees, they can't be sold."

Trees from local farms are fresh. You know how and when they're cut, contrary to the ones on corner lots that were probably cut months ago. Those trees may have come from warmer climes too, and can shatter when they're brought indoors, depending on the temperature when they were cut.

Perry has been growing Christmas trees for 34 years and his fields are always full of trees in varying stages of growth. When he cuts a tree, he interplants by hand. Perry grows white pine and blue and Norway spruces, Fir such as Concolor (white), Douglas and Canaan - a fragrant balsam fir that has adapted to a warmer climate than Maine's, and grows in wet sites.

Perry's tips: "If you go out to a farm, dress according to the weather. When you get the tree home, cut a 1/8 to ¼ inch slice off the bottom. This allows the pores to open up and draw water. Don't let the water go below the base of the tree. Develop a routine to give it water every day."

Keep your tree in water and away from heat - the cooler the better. Use a tree stand with a one-gallon reservoir. Mist it before you decorate. "It's like a big flower, just on a larger scale." He says with proper care, the tree will last a month.

Kogut's tip: If you buy from a lot, test for freshness: grasp a branch and pull your hand along the branch toward you. It's fresh if very few needles come off. Shake and bounce it. If green needles fall off it's not fresh.

Kogut warns that balled and burlapped trees should only be kept in the house for two weeks tops - any longer and the tree will think it's spring and start to grow, then die when it's put outside.

B&B Tip: Have the hole already dug. Leave the tree in the garage in a tub of water and keep the ball moist, not wet. Slowly acclimate it to go inside your warm house, and then later, reverse the process to the outdoors.

Nearly 25% of all trees sold in Connecticut are blue spruce. "The type of tree is trendy. It's what's being offered and shown in magazines," Kogul says. Last year it was the natural look - old rhododendrons that show wood and crooked stems.

"Christmas tree growers don't care what the trend is and it takes ten years to grow a tree, so they stick to growing what they're good at growing. There cannot be a trend in growers," she adds.

"We want everybody to enjoy a Christmas tree and enjoy taking the time to decorate it. A Christmas tree is not a party tree. It's a Christian holiday. People should just enjoy it."

Some Christmas tree facts: - 35 million Christmas trees are sold every year in the US. - There are 12,000 Christmas tree growers in the US. - They're 100% recyclable. - Whole trees are used for river bank stabilization and beach erosion prevention, fish habitat, marshland filtration/sedimentation. - They're used for hazardous chemical spill clean ups. Dry needles absorb chemicals. - It takes four to fifteen years to grow a tree. - 98% of them are grown on farms as a crop. - For every one cut, three more are planted on a 5' x 5' grid. - Over 100,000 people are employed in the industry.

....................
More pleasures articles

Print this story: Printer-friendly page

published December 01, 2003