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.