Heather N. Kolich, ANR Agent, UGA Extension Forsyth County
The tradition of bringing greenery into the home during winter has a history that spans many centuries and several cultures. For most of them, evergreen branches symbolized renewal of life and anticipation of fresh fruits and vegetables in spring. So how did the tradition of bringing a whole tree indoors get started? Who knows? Maybe some 10-thumbs decorator like me couldn’t weave evergreen branches into a wreath and opted for a preassembled version.
What we do know is that German settlers in Pennsylvania introduced cut Christmas trees to the colonies in the mid-1700s, but it took around 100 years for the practice to catch on in other parts of America. In the early 1900s, partly to limit overharvesting of evergreen trees from national forests, farmers began growing Christmas trees as a specialty crop.
Today, the U.S. boasts over 15,000 Christmas tree farms growing 350 million evergreen trees on over 292,000 acres throughout all 50 states. Many Christmas tree farms, including Bottoms Christmas Tree Farm (https://bottomstreefarm.com/) and Kinsey Family Farm (http://www.kinseyfamilyfarm.com/) in Forsyth County, are family owned and operated.
In 2022, Georgia Christmas tree growers contributed over $4.5 million to the state’s economy. We have 299 farms in 66 counties devoting 1,233 acres to growing a wide variety of cedars, cypress, spruces, and pines. Although total acreage in Christmas trees in Georgia is down slightly from the 2017 USDA Census of Agriculture, the number of trees cut nearly doubled, from 32,161 in 2017 to 63,915 in 2022. Christmas tree growers plant 1-3 seedlings for every tree harvested.
Although Christmas trees require a longer growth cycle than many Georgia crops, they’re a viable option for small farms and agritourism enterprises. Growers can plant an acre of seedlings each year, slowly building up to a succession of annual harvests. Many growers offer options of pre-cut trees, cut your own trees, and live trees that can be planted after the season. Agritourism activities such as hayrides, wreath making workshops, and gift shops, can increase farm income. According to a 2024 press release from the University of Georgia, Georgia farms engaging in agritourism added an average of 8.84% over the total income derived from farm-grown products. For the 742 Georgia farms offering on-site agritourism activities in 2022, that averaged out to $41,849 per farm in additional income. Metropolitan areas are prime locations for agritourism.
Farm-grown Christmas trees provide numerous benefits over artificial trees. Most cultivated Christmas tree species are genetically very similar to the ones growing wild. Leyland cypress is the exception. While they are growing for the 4 to 15 years required to reach harvest height of 6-7 feet, Christmas trees clean pollutants from the air, absorb carbon dioxide, produce oxygen, stabilize soil to prevent erosion, and provide habitats for many species of wildlife.
Real Christmas trees can continue to provide ecological benefits after the season. Once the ornaments and lights are removed, cut trees can be ground into soil building mulch through free programs such as Keep Georgia Beautiful’s annual Bring One for the Chipper. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sometimes collects post-season Christmas trees to use for fish habitat in selected lakes. If transporting the tree to a collection site isn’t convenient, toss it into the backyard or your private pond to provide habitat for birds and small mammals or fish.
If you opt for a living tree with the intention of planting it outdoors after Christmas, keep it well watered and in a bright, sunny location during the holidays. Before transplanting, gradually reintroduce the tree to the outdoors by placing it outside for a couple of hours in the morning or on a cloudy day, and slowly increasing the hours of outdoor exposure over several days. When selecting the planting location, keep the mature size of the tree in mind. Some species of Christmas trees exceed 60 feet in height and 30 feet in spread. During the establishment year, transplanted trees need about an inch of water every week.
To find a list of Georgia Christmas farms by region, visit https://exploregeorgia.org/ or https://georgiagrown.com.