<%@LANGUAGE="JAVASCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%>
Choose your real, Ohio-Grown Christmas Tree
Find your perfect Ohio Grown Christmas Tree
Choosing a real Christmas tree is a fun outing for the whole family and easy to do. Here are a few simple steps for selecting the perfect, REAL tree.
Size and Shape - Consider the area in your home where you plan to place the tree, and select a tree that will best fit that area.
Do a freshness test - Gently grasp a branch between your thumb and forefinger and pull it toward you. Very few needles should come off in your hand if the tree is fresh. Shake or bounce the tree on its stump. You should not see an excessive amount of green needles fall to the ground. Each year a new batch of needles develops and the oldest needles on the tree die. These needles should be shaken from the tree with a tree shaker or they will end up in the carpet. Note: Trees bailed with twine will cause some needles to shed. This is not unusual.
Choose your favorite, Ohio Grown, REAL Tree
Scotch Pine
Scotch Pine is an introduced species native to Europe and eastern Asia, historically has been the most popular Christmas tree grown and sold in Ohio and throughout the United States, though its popularity has waned some during the 90s. Scotch pine is commonly sheared tightly to produce a tree with dense foliage. Scotch pine has strong branches that will support abundant decorations and relatively heavy ornaments. The needle retention of cut Scotch pine is excellent, better than almost any other Christmas tree species.
Eastern White Pine
Eastern White Pine is a tree native to eastern North America, is the second most popular pine Christmas tree species among Ohio consumers. Its two- to five-inch-long, yellow-green to blue-green, soft, flexible needles are attached to flexible branches in groups of five, giving the tree an almost delicate look. White pine is most commonly sheared fairly lightly, producing a tree with dense foliage. Compared to the Scotch pine, however, eastern white pine's slender branches will support fewer and smaller decorations. Needle retention of cut eastern white pine is very good to excellent.
Blue spruce
(Colorado spruce, Colorado blue spruce) a tree native to relatively high elevations in the mountains of the western United States, seems to be experiencing increasing popularity as both a cut Christmas tree and a living Christmas tree to be planted after the holiday. Its 3/4 to 1-1/4 inch-long, stiff, very sharply pointed needles are attached individually to twigs and grow on small peg-like structures that remain on the twig after the needles have fallen (usually after the third or fourth year), producing a somewhat rough or bumpy feeling twig. The foliage color of individual blue-spruce trees varies from green to blue-green to silvery-white. Blue spruce branches are relatively stiff and will support many decorations and relatively heavy ornaments. Needle retention is good, though blue spruce will not tolerate a situation that allows the tree stand to occasionally go dry.
Fraser fir
Fraser Fir is a tree native to the high elevations of the southern Appalachian Mountains, is a fragrant, dark-green Christmas tree species whose popularity has increased dramatically in recent years. Among Fraser fir's strong attributes as a Christmas tree are its strong natural symmetry, allowing the production of attractive trees with a wide range in density; its relatively strong branches to support decorations; and its attractive, deep green, relatively soft foliage. Also the needle retention of cut Fraser fir is excellent, and it is among the most aromatic of Christmas trees species, producing the balsam aroma commonly associated with the Christmas holiday.
Canaan Fir
Canaan Fir, (pronounced kah-nane), grown from seed collected from fir stands in West Virginia and Virginia, is a relatively
new Christmas tree variety that is rapidly gaining acceptance by both Christmas-tree growers and consumers. Growers have been particularly interested in Canaan fir because it will grow on many sites where Fraser fir and Douglas-fir will not. Buyers should normally rely on growers to identify Canaan fir and then seek the tree with the most desirable characteristics. Like Fraser fir, Canaan has attractive, relatively soft foliage; has relatively stiff branches; and is available in a wide range of densities. Canaan fir's needle retention appears to be good to very good, and it, too, produces the balsam aroma commonly associated with the Christmas holiday.
Douglas-fir
Douglas Fir, a tree species native to the mountains of the western United States, has been the major Christmas tree species in the western United States since early in this century and today is popular throughout the United States. Its three-quarter to one-and-one-quarter-inch-long, flattened, soft, green to blue-green needles are attached individually around the twig and tend to radiate out in all directions. Among Douglas-fir's attributes as a Christmas tree are its strong natural symmetry, allowing the production of attractive trees with a wide range in density; its relatively soft, attractive foliage; and its very good needle retention once cut.
Norway Spruce
The Norway Spruce is a beautiful tree, but does best as a landscape or balled and burlap tree. Norway Spruce is best used as a specimen in a lawn area or as a wind break or screen, planted on 20- foot-centers. Rockefeller Center in New York City erects a Norway Spruce each Christmas next to the skating rink and decorates it for the holiday season. If you plan to use this tree as a Christmas Tree, It should be FRESHLY cut and purchased just a week or so before December 25th, as it does not hold it's needles well. You can help it along by making sure that it is kept properly watered. Pine Tree Barn offers quality balled and burlap Norway Spruce.
Info from: Selecting and Caring For Your Cut Christmas Tree by Randall B. Heiligmann, State Forestry Extension Specialist.
Visi