Summer Shearing

For most folks, thoughts of Christmas and Christmas trees melt away with the snow of winter. But summer is a busy time for New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers.

During July, many of our farmers are spending long days hand pruning and shearing thousands of trees. Farm grown trees are pruned (selectively removing whole branches and twigs) and sheared (trimming the tips of branches) to fill in gaps and shape the trees into the classic Christmas tree form.

This work is labor intensive, as it must be done each year, by hand, and within a limited time frame. So while you won’t be ready to trim your tree for another four or five months, our Christmas tree farmers are hard at work trimming THEIR trees this summer!

'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!

Caring for your Christmas tree

You've found a beautiful tree and brought it home to deck the halls - here are a few tips for keeping your tree fresh and fragrant through the holiday season:

• If you haven't yet set your tree up, make a fresh cut, removing the lower 1/2-inch of the trunk.
• Whether your tree has been set up for weeks or you're just putting it in the stand now, WATER is the key to keeping your Christmas tree fresh! Check your tree stand regularly to ensure the bottom of the trunk is submerged.
• As much as possible, keep your Christmas tree away from radiators, fireplaces, and other sources of drying heat.
• For more tips, visit our tree care page.

Happy holidays from the New Hampshire Christmas tree growers... May your days be merry and bright, and may your farm fresh Christams tree contribute to your holiday joy!

Last chance to order your tree!

Christmas is just two weeks away, but there’s still time to order a picture-perfect tree from a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm – if you do it soon! To ensure you have your tree to trim before the big day, you must place your order – online or via phone – by December 10th if you live outside of New England. Those within the New England region should order by December 15th.

Mail order Christmas trees are cut fresh and packed in wax-lined cartons to keep them fresh and fragrant en route to your holiday home. Find a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm that offers mail order trees on our mail order page.

We know there are plenty of last-minute shoppers out there. If you don’t get your tree order in on time… well, what a great excuse to visit a beautiful New Hampshire Christmas tree farm! Many farms remain open right to Christmas Eve. For more information on individual farms and their hours and dates of operation, visit our New Hampshire Christmas tree farms map.

Happy Holidays!

Accessorizing for a Happy Holiday

For New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers, this time of year is really all about the trees… which is why many of our farms offer a wide array of accessories to help you trim the tree with ease. For starters, we offer a tree stand that some have dubbed “the marriage saver.” It consists, simply, of a large water reservoir, four sturdy legs, and a metal spike that holds your tree securely in place (make sure you get your tree drilled at the farm if you want to use this magical stand). It’s easy to set up year after year – no tipping, no tying the tree to the wall, no fuss! Tree farms offer saws, watering spouts, and other helpful items to make your holidays hassle-free.

Your favorite New Hampshire Christmas tree farm may also sell uniquely pretty ornaments for trimming your tree. This year the New Hampshire Christmas Tree Promotion Board is offering its 16th annual pewter ornament, depicting Father Christmas himself carrying his farm fresh tree home. There are plenty of other ornaments available from New Hampshire Christmas tree farms, too, from whimsical snowmen and Santas to hand-painted glass orbs depicting snowy New Hampshire Christmas scenes. Many gift items and decorations available at tree farms are made locally by area artisans.

Finally, don't forget your wreaths, garlands, and - of course - the tree!

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!

Spreading Holiday Cheer - Trees for Troops

The holiday season is really all about giving. It was in that spirit of Christmas that Trees For Troops was started in 2005, to give a little bit of the holidays – in the form of farm fresh Christmas trees – to America’s military service men and women and their families.

Since 2005, thanks to the generous support of people like you and donations from more than 700 Christmas tree farms around the country, Trees for Troops has delivered more than 67,000 Christmas trees to military personnel and their families. Trees have been delivered to members of every branch of the military, on more than 50 military bases, in more than a dozen countries. 
The trees are one way to say thank you to these folks who have dedicated themselves to serving the country, and to the military families who are often missing a loved one serving away from home at Christmas.


New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers are happy to be a part of Trees for Troops. To learn more about Trees for Troops or make a donation, please visit www.christmasspiritfoundation.org

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!

Christmas Tree Condos

Chances are, the farm fresh Christmas tree you’ll trim this holiday season had a full and varied life before coming into your home. The green space New Hampshire Christmas tree farms provide and preserve is essential habitat for countless wildlife species.

The manager of one New Hampshire Christmas tree farm describes his crop as "revolving condos" for birds, who return year after year to build nests in the larger trees, flocking to different parts of the farm as one year's crop is cut down to make way for another. 

Wild turkeys, moose, deer, bears, and countless other species also benefit from the habitat provided and maintained by tree farmers.

The neat, pretty rows of trees and preservation of open space provided by tree farms is an important part of New Hampshire's natural landscape for the people who live here and visit the state. Many New Hampshire Christmas tree farms include walking trails, and human visitors should always ask permission from the landowner before roaming a tree farm or other private property.

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.

Growing a Christmas Tree - Fun Facts

The Christmas tree you'll trim this winter is probably older than you think. Perhaps you’ve noticed – among all those tall, full, beautiful firs – some smaller “baby” trees lined up in neat rows in the fields of your favorite New Hampshire Christmas tree farm. Those babies are actually 5 years old or older. And the tree you’ll trim this holiday season was likely planted as a seed a dozen years ago or more.

Here’s what it takes to grow a Christmas tree:

First, cones are harvested from mature trees – sometimes trees as old as half a century or more. These cones are dried and sifted to extract the seeds.

Next, the seeds are planted in soil that has been prepared with fertilizer and peat moss, much like a home gardener would ready a vegetable bed. Seeds are planted in the fall and germinate the next spring. After 3 years in a seed bed, the young seedlings are moved to a slightly larger transplant bed, which allows them room to spread their branches a bit.

When they’re 5 years old, these future Christmas trees are moved from the transplant bed and into the field, where they’ll remain in their tidy rows for the next 7 to 10 years. Every tree in the field is fertilized and hand-pruned each year to produce that perfect Christmas tree shape.

Finally, of course, your Christmas tree is cut fresh, ready for trimming and the joys of the holiday season.