Sustainably Grown and Harvested Trees

After nearly a quarter of a century, we are excited to bring back Christmas trees. For our cut trees, we have selected a grower that adheres to a lot of philosophies that we believe in. When we bring on almost any new product, there’s a lot of research (and compromises) we have to consider. This year’s Christmas Trees come with the following commitments:

Environmental

To minimize resource degradation, our grower uses the latest proven scientific methods of field preparation, planting and fertilizer/herbicide application.

Trees are harvested using helicopters to assure product freshness with minimal environmental impact, and works closely with local university for monitoring of pracctices.

Cut trees are a renewable resource. These trees decompose in compost and quickly replenish soil nutrients rather than release toxins for a period of years.

Summer fallow periods and planting post-harvest cover crops generates organic matter, provides wildlife habitat and replenishes nutrients that renew the soil. Scenic greenbelts are created that protect water supplies.

These practices assure a strong and vibrant environment. Stewardship of our natural resources is an important consideration when we selected a vendor.

Biodiversity, Soil and Land Care

The health of farm-grown trees is in direct relation to the resources that surround it. In turn, healthy trees provide habitats for all types of living entities.

Evergreens provide a safe haven year around for birds to use as protection and as a food source from insects on the trees.

Christmas trees also provide other benefits by their ability to absorb carbon dioxide and other gases. A rotating harvesting process is in place to be sensitive to the fauna who makes these grounds their home.

Maintaining a healthy ecosystem demands good soil management practices and an attention to riparian and wetland areas. Our vendor commits to soil and maintain clean and healthy water systems is a daily activity that we embrace as industry leaders.

All of their farmland has buffer strips to prevent off-site runoff and soil loss. Between tree harvests, cover crops are planted for a season to improve soil nutrients.

When it is time to plant the next crop of trees, they utilize a no-till planting method in order to avoid soil erosion from wind and water.

Pest Management

Similar to how we control pests at the nursery, our tree vendor utilizes an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to controlling pests. Integrative Pest Management is an environmentally sensitive approach that includes a vast knowledge of the life cycles of pests and how they interact with the environment. We identify and monitor the pests on our farms understanding that many are innocuous and others have distinct benefits.

Keeping an eye towards balance and ensuring businesses can survive, when pest levels become an economic threat, the proper control methods are evaluated that will be the most economical method of controlling pests and having the least possible impact on people, property and the environment.

Transportation

Probably the trickiest part of our sourcing is transportation.

We do have to drive to pick up our trees. We’ve done our best to minimize the number of trips, hauling a zero-emission trailer to bring the trees home.

We keep our trees shaded to prevent evaporation, and bundled, to keep freshness.

As always, a potted, living tree has the lightest environmental footprint, and we’ve carried living trees for decades. If you’re willing to grow a tree in a movable container, wheeling them indoors at the holidays is a great option to help balance tradition and low impact.

If you have additional questions about our practices, please visit us in-store and we’re happy to do our best to educate and collaborate.