Growing Christmas trees – 8 facts you should know

ByJoshua Golovaty

Ever wondered what is the secret for growing a Christmas trees or how to plant one? From backyard to a Christmas tree farm, here are a few things you should know.

The Christmas trees industry is a very serious business. According to the USDA, 25-30 million trees are sold each year in the USA
Approximately 100,000 people are employed in the Christmas trees industry that grows 350 million trees in more than 15,000 tree farms
Christmas trees are grown between three to ten years. A very short rotation time comparing to other timber species grown for the forestry industry
Proactive form corrections and shearing activities are done at the nursery in order to make the trees look as "proper Christmas tree"
Fertilization of Christmas trees must be more precise and efficient than regular commercial forest trees. This is mainly due to the fact that the beauty of the tree is a key factor in the industry
The use of controlled-release fertilizer (CRF) to enhance seedling productivity and speed up tree growing has increased considerably in the forestry industry and therefore in Christmas tree nurseries too
"Living Christmas trees" have become popular to ethically minded consumers, who do not like the idea of cutting and throwing away a tree every year. Living Christmas trees are sold in large containers and can be planted after use
Planting a living Christmas tree should follow the same principles as planting a tree in the forest:
1. Select a planting site that has well-drained soil and that is appropriate for the mature tree’s size.
2. Dig a hole and be sure that the hole is a little deeper than the ball roots.
3. Put Haifa's Multicote 8 in the hole bottom and cover it with soil until the hole is at the same depth as the root ball.
4. Remove the containers and place the tree inside the hole.
5. Be sure that it is planted at the same depth it was grown at the nursery.
6. Fill in the hole with the soil that you dug out and heel it in firmly.