From The Farm To Your Home
Planting - Spring
In the spring, North Carolina Christmas tree farms plant young trees. These are either seedlings (2 year old plants) or transplants (3-5 year old plants). Transplants have a better survival rate because they are more mature plants and can survive greater fluctuations in the weather, but they are also more costly than seedlings. The trees are planted in straight rows 6’ apart to allow for proper room to grow. Every several rows a ‘roadway’ is left unplanted so trucks and tractors can easily access the trees when it is time to harvest them out of the fields.
Trimming & Tagging - Summer
After the trees have their new growth, the most painstaking part of tree farming begins: trimming. Many weeks are spent in the fields shaping the trees. Christmas trees get their first shearing when they are 3’ tall. After that they are trimmed every year. Each tree is trimmed by hand, top to bottom. Trimming is necessary for high-quality Christmas trees, because it encourages fullness and helps maintain the classic Christmas tree shape.
At the end of the summer, the trees are looked over to determine which trees are ready for harvest. A colorful ribbon is placed on the trees that will be cut for our tree lots that year. Often a whole field is not ready for sale in any one year. It usually takes two to four years before a field is cleared and ready for new trees to be planted. Trees are tagged for height and quality.
Harvest - Fall
In mid-November, farms begin to harvest the Christmas trees that will be sold for that year. Each of the tagged trees are cut and the bottom branches are removed for easy placement in tree stands. The live Christmas trees are carefully baled with twine for protection and transport down to our Lots in Florida.
Hart-T-Tree Farm trees are shipped within a few days of being cut. We time our harvest so that the trees are cut as close as possible to shipping. When you buy a tree from Hart-T-Tree Farms, you get the freshest tree on the market.
Retail On Our Tree Lots - Winter
After harvest, the live Christmas trees are trucked down to our Christmas tree lots in Southeast Florida. Our Florida tree lots open the weekend before Thanksgiving and remain open throughout the weeks leading up to Christmas morning.
Our tree lots are run by friendly and experienced lot managers, many of whom have worked with us season after season. Please visit our Lot Locations page to find a retail Lot near you!