Our Farm to Your Home
How do we get our Christmas trees from our Christmas tree farm to your home? With a lot of hard work. Read below to learn more about the seasons on the farm and the journey your tree takes to become the centerpiece of your holiday season.
Planting
In the spring, we plant young trees. These are either seedlings (2 year old plants) or transplants (3-5 year old plants). Transplants have a better survival rate because they are more mature plants and can survive greater fluctuations in the weather, but they are also more costly than seedlings.
Beginning in March, we line out the fields for planting. This involves marking each spot that a tree will be planted. The Christmas trees are then “set out” (planted) by hand (it’s hard to drive a tractor in straight lines on those mountain slopes!). The trees are planted in straight rows 6’ apart to allow for proper room to grow. Every 10 or 12 rows a roadway is left unplanted so trucks and tractors can easily access the trees when it is time to harvest and haul them out of the fields.
Trimming & Tagging
After the trees have their new growth, the most painstaking part of tree farming begins: trimming. Many weeks are spent in the fields shaping the trees. Christmas trees get their first shearing when they are 3’ tall. After that they are trimmed every year. Each tree is trimmed by hand, top to bottom, by workers wearing long sleeved shirts, hats and gloves regardless of the heat. It takes several minutes to shear each tree. Shearing is necessary for high-quality Christmas trees, because it encourages fullness and helps maintain the classic Christmas tree shape.
At the end of the summer, after all the trees are trimmed and enjoying the cooler temperatures, we look all over our fields to determine which trees are ready for harvest. We place colorful ribbons on the trees that will be cut for our tree lots that year. Often a whole field is not ready for sale in any one year. It usually takes two to four years before a field is cleared and ready for new trees to be planted. Trees are tagged for height and quality. On our farm, sizes range from 2’ to 14’. Trees are graded premium or #1s and #2s. Trees that will be harvested in the fall are trimmed tighter, to make them “retail-ready”.
Harvest
In mid November we begin harvesting trees on our farm. Each of the tagged trees are cut and the bottom branches are removed for easy placement in tree stands. Then, the trees are slid through a baler which bundles and wraps each tree with twine for transport.
Hart-T-Tree Farm trees are shipped within 72 hours of being cut. Because we typically harvest for our own retail locations in southeast Florida, we can harvest later in the season, eliminating the need to stockpile trees for weeks on end before shipping. When you buy a tree from Hart-T-Tree Farms, you get the freshest tree on the market.
Our Tree Lots
After harvest, our trees are shipped to our Christmas tree lots in southeast Florida. Most of our Florida tree lots are sponsored by a local non-profit organization like the Big Bike Riders Association of Florida, the Broward Health Foundation, or the Boca Raton Sunrise Kiwanis. Our Florida tree lots open the weekend before Thanksgiving and remain open until December 24th. Our tree lots are run by friendly and experienced lot managers, many of whom have worked with us season after season.
And finally…Years ago, a tiny tree was planted so that one day it would become the centerpiece of your Christmas season, bringing warmth, joy, and Christmas spirit to hearth and home. And there is nothing like the smell of a real Christmas tree to remind you that Christmas is here, that love, joy, and peace are abundant, and that the world is a beautiful place. Remember to recycle your tree!
Learn More
Carrie McClain, from Hart-T-Tree Farms, was featured on WKSK Farm Friends podcast talking about the family farm and growing Christmas trees in North Carolina. WKSK Farm Friends is the local radio station in Ashe County, North Carolina, where Hart-T-Tree Farms Christmas trees are grown.