OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW
On or about 1972 my father planted a small Colorado Blue Spruce on our lawn. Just like puppies and kittens little trees become big trees. It became so big we had to trim it severely to avoid problems with electrical and telephone lines. It really didn't look very good trimmed and the wires were still at risk. So we cut it down in 2017 and took the log to a neighbor's mill and we had almost enough lumber to build the covered sign board for customers to learn things about trees when they arrive to buy the perfect tree. We have also planted a new small tree further away from the wires but not too close to the road and like the previous tree it is growing upward.
Every year on the farm is a little different. Different opportunities and threats arise. Two big factors are the climate (length of the seasons) and the actual weather. These have a big impact on the trees and how much time we have to work on them. Too much rain can increase root rot. Too little rain increases mortality among the younger trees. A late spring frost can kill some or most of the new growth on the trees. Very hot and muggy weather and heavy rain, perhaps with lightning, keeps us out of the fields. We must wait for the first hard frosts in the Fall before starting to harvest greens or trees. There are certain tasks that have to be done each year. We need to plant new trees. We need to fertilize existing trees. We need to keep weeds under control. We have to scout our trees frequently for diseases and pests. We must to shape trees once they need it and until they are marketable. We need to harvest greens and trees both for the wholesale and retail market. Each of these major tasks has a number of important sub tasks. For example: in order to replant trees, we must pull the stumps, smooth the soil, test the soil, improve the soil and plant a companion crop of grasses and clover to prevent erosion and suppress tall weeds. All that and more has to happen before the first baby tree is planted. Despite all of the above, a day working on the tree farm is physically and mentally rewarding. Despite the sore muscles and dirty hands, you know what you have done and you did it outdoors in all of the good and challenging weather we get in Central Vermont.
While stumps and roots can be pulled with a tractor mounted back hoe. A small excavator can proceed quicker and more efficiently. Experience has taught us that removing both the stump and the roots is important. It is also important not to lose very much soil in the process. Soil testing provides answers about what nutrients need to be added to the soil. Because most Christmas trees prefer a pH of 5.0 to 5.5 and root rot can be retarded with the lower pH, we no longer use much lime. Depending on the soil conditions different strategies are employed to produce low growing and dense vegetation on the ground before replanting.
Given the opportunity, we try to plant both in the Spring and in the Fall. It spreads the work out and each season has its pluses and minuses. Some nurseries only sell baby trees in the Spring. Trees planted in the Spring must try to do two important things: produce new growth and to develop roots. There are fewer nurseries selling trees in the Fall but the trees can concentrate on developing their roots. We typically plant four year old transplants or four year old seedlings. Transplants typically spend 2 years in the seed bed, two years in the transplant bed and have more developed root systems. Seedlings spend all four years in the seedling bed. Both are known as "bare root" trees. A recent development is the green house tree (plug) grown in a container with many trees, each in its own cavity. These trees can be pulled from their container and planted with minimal disturbance of their roots. Our preference is to plant our trees by a tractor drawn planting machine. With a small crew over 1,000, trees can be planted in a day. We do some hand planting to replace trees that did not make it in a previous planting.
Based on soil and foliage testing we apply fertilizer, mostly in the Spring before and during when the trees produce most of their growth. Because tree roots grow out from the stem a distance roughly equal to the trees height, we place the fertilizer between the rows. That encourages grass and weeds to grow but the trees get their share.
Because we haven't used herbicides in years, we have healthy soil. We started to place wood chips around the baby trees after planting to suppress weeds and grass near the tree in 2024. We mow between the rows with tractors and mow across the rows of trees (we call it "cross mowing")with our two wheel BCS tractor. The grass and weeds are left where they drop after being chopped up so they can rot and further improve the soil and provide nutrients to the trees.
There are several terms used to describe cutting the top and sides of a tree to make it more dense and pyramid shaped. They include pruning, shearing and shaping. They all describe the same thing. There are many different tools used to improve the shape of the tree. Some are hand tools and some are gas or electric tools. We have used most of them over the years. Because many of our workers are teenagers, we mostly use hand tools. Currently we use a belt containing several different hand tools and a long handled pruner. We usually start shaping in early July and continue until they are done. The process generally limits the annual vertical growth to approximately 12 inches. We purposely shape our trees based on how the tree wants to grow. We don't try to make a fat tree skinny. We make the tree dense but with a natural outer edge of foliage enabling attaching decorations. Because the shaping occurs during the Summer and Fall, we encounter all manner of plants and creatures including sharp brambles, biting insects and bees of one sort or another. We often see deer, wild turkeys, and various birds of prey.
Wholesale harvesting is popular with our crew because it happens at a time of year when insects do not bother and the weather can be a good temperature to work. We use a mixture of hand and power tools to harvest wholesale greens and trees. Choose & Cut harvesting usually has a mix of weather that can be either pleasant or challenging. We get to meet between two and three thousand people during the usual 12 day season. We use mostly hand tools to avoid safety issues because of how many adults and children are around. Each customer has their individual idea of the perfect tree. We work hard to help them achieve that. We encourage customers to walk around as much as they like searching for their perfect tree. Our Christmas Barn is our headquarters during this season providing warmth for both customers and staff when needed. Weather can be just right with sun and a light coating of snow or windy and rainy. Being on a hill farm has it advantages and disadvantages. We often have at least a breeze.