Online orders, tree trimming tips, and Christmas tree fun facts from New Hampshire

The holiday season is upon us, and tree farms throughout New Hampshire are bustling with festive activity! To find out what’s happening at your favorite New Hampshire Christmas tree farm, check our interactive map. 

If you’re planning to purchase a mail order tree from one of our farms, you’ll need to do so soon! The ordering deadline for most mail order trees is around December 13^th for delivery outside of New England, and December 18^th for addresses closer to home. Many farms also offer handmade wreaths, tree accessories, ornaments and gifts through their online shops.

For those of you who are ready to trim the tree, the decorating options seem limitless! From color themes of silver-and-gold, red-and-green, or sparkling blue to a sentimental hodgepodge of cherished family ornaments, there are countless ways to decorate a tree. Homemade ornaments also add a festive and personal touch and can be eco-friendly to boot – think snowflakes cut from recycled paper, holiday ribbons tied to pinecones or sweetly scented cinnamon sticks, old Christmas cards cut into ornaments, and garlands of popcorn, cranberries and dried apples.

As we approach the Big Day, here are some fun Christmas tree facts:

* The first record of a decorated tree reaches back to 1510, when the local merchants’ guild decorated a tree in Riga, Latvia, with artificial roses.

* In the 1600s and 1700s, people in Germany commonly adorned Christmas trees with apples. In some parts of Austria and Germany, evergreen boughs were hung from ceilings and decorated with apples, gilded nuts, and colorful paper strips. Candles were added to Christmas trees in the 1700s.

* By the 1800s, Americans had caught onto the Christmas tree craze, and by mid-century, Christmas trees were sold commercially in the United States.

* New Hampshire’s own Franklin Pierce was the first president, in 1853, to decorate a Christmas tree at the White House.

* The first Christmas Tree farm in the U.S. was planted in 1901 in New Jersey, and in the 1930s President Franklin Roosevelt planted a Christmas tree farm at his Hyde Park, NY, estate.

* Today there are Christmas Tree farms in all 50 states, with some 15,000 tree farms throughout the country, covering about 350,000 acres (and preserving open space), employing over 100,000 people

* For every Real Christmas tree harvested, tree farmers plant up to 3 seedlings the following spring.

* It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (6 - 7 feet) or as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years.

Here’s hoping your holidays are happy ~ Merry Christmas to all!

NH Tree Farmers Proudly Support Trees for Troops

The holiday season is all about sharing joy. In that spirit, many New Hampshire Christmas tree farmers participate in the Trees for Troops program, sharing the joy of farm fresh Christmas trees with military personnel and their families.

A program of the National Christmas Tree Association’s Christmas SPIRIT Foundation, Trees for Troops began in 2005 and has provided over 103,000 trees to servicemen and women at military bases across the United States and overseas.

The program works with donors and tree farmers throughout the country to provide some 18,000 Christmas trees each year to military personnel. FedEx provides shipping services for Trees for Troops. The program was honored at the White House this year as a national finalist in the Joining Forces Community Challenge, an initiative started by First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden to recognize organizations that provide exemplary service and support to military families.

Providing real Christmas trees to the Trees for Troops program is our way of giving a little bit back to those who serve our country and who are often away from home and separated from their families during the holidays.

Together with tree farmers in Vermont, New Hampshire Christmas tree growers donate about 400 farm grown trees to Trees for Troops each year. We invite you to join us in spreading the joy of the holidays. To learn more about Trees for Troops or to make a donation to the program, please visit the Christmas SPIRIT Foundation website. Donations may also be made at participating New Hampshire Christmas tree farms.

We wish you all, near and far, a very merry Christmas.

It’s Christmas tree season in New Hampshire!

With snow frosting the mountain peaks and a brisk chill in the air, we know the holidays are right around the corner. Many New Hampshire Christmas tree farms are open for mail order business, and choose-and-cut Christmas tree season arrives soon!

New Hampshire Christmas tree farms also offer festive events and entertainment throughout the season – from caroling and horse-drawn wagon rides to cocoa and holiday shops. Be sure to check the website of your favorite farm or call ahead for details. Check out the interactive Find-a-Farm map on our website.

As we look to the holidays and decking the halls, here are a few tips for choosing a perfect, farm fresh Christmas tree:

Before you cut, measure your space. This is important whether you’ll be selecting a tree from a retail lot or cutting your own from a farm. Measure the ceiling height of the room in which you’ll trim your tree AND the width of the space as well. Once you’re in the field – or on the lot – it will be difficult to judge tree size, since you’ll be in a much more open area.

Consider what type of Christmas tree you’d like. Before you visit your favorite Christmas tree farm, think about what type of tree you’d like. Some species are known for a stronger fragrance, others for staying fresh longer. Balsam, Fraser, and Canaan firs are the most commonly grown Christmas trees in New Hampshire, but some farms offer other varieties as well. Check the National Christmas Tree Association’s descriptions of tree varieties for more information. 

Test for freshness. If you are selecting a tree from a retail lot at your Christmas tree farm, run a branch of the tree through your enclosed hand. The needles should NOT come off easily. The outer branches should be pliable – not brittle – when you bend them. However, it IS normal for all conifers to shed their oldest needles in the fall. Most farms will provide a shaking service so the needles that are ready to drop do so before you get your tree home and in the stand.

Be prepared for a day outdoors. New Hampshire sees a variety of weather through the late fall weeks, from t-shirt temps to snow squalls. Keep in mind that you’ll be outdoors – whether at a retail lot or in the field cutting your own tree – and dress appropriately. You may also like to bring your camera to document the tree hunting!

Partner up to cut. Cutting a Christmas tree is easiest with two people – one to get down on the ground and do the sawing, and one to hold the tree and move the lower branches out of the way. The person holding the tree should tug upward lightly while the tree is being cut so the saw does not bind.

For more tips on choosing a tree, please visit our website. We hope to see you at a New Hampshire Christmas tree farm this holiday season!