Christmas Tree History and Varieties

Christmas Tree History

The first recorded reference to the Christmas tree dates back to the 16th century. In Strasbourg, Germany, families both rich and poor decorated fir trees with colored paper, fruits, and sweets. The tradition spread through Europe, and was eventually brought to the United States by German settlers.

Early Christmas tree decorations included homemade cookies and "sugars", corn husk dolls, and various food ornaments such as pomander balls (apples or oranges studded with whole cloves and dusted with cinnamon) and strings of popcorn. Today there are a great many options when decorating your tree: various ornaments, beads, colored lights, and even revolving tree stands that play music. NEVER use candles on or around a Christmas tree!.

Christmas Tree Varieties

Common Christmas tree species grown in the Pacific Northwest are Douglas-fir (Psuedotsuga menziesii), Grand fir (Abies grandis), and Noble fir (Abies procera) .

Less common Christmas tree species grown in our region include Nordmann (Abies nordmannii), Turkish fir (Abies bornmulleriana), Fraser fir (Abies fraserii), Scotch pine (Pinus sylvestris), western white pine (Pinus monticola), and Blue spruce (Picea pungens).

Christmas Tree Facts

These Christmas tree facts are from the National Christmas Tree Association.

• Real Christmas trees are an all-American product, grown in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii.
  
  
• Real trees are a renewable, recyclable resource.
  
  
• For every real Christmas tree harvested, 2 to 3 seedlings are planted in its place. There are about 1 million acres in production for growing Christmas trees. Each acre provides the daily oxygen requirements of 18 people.
  
  
• There are about 15,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S., and over 100,000 people employed full or part time in the industry.
  
  
• There are approximately 5,000 "choose and cut" farms in the U.S. It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of average retail saleheight (6 feet), but the average growing time is 7 years.
  
  
• The top Christmas tree producing states are Oregon, Michigan,Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, California, and North Carolina.
  
  
• The top selling Christmas trees are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine, and white pine.
  
  
• The enduring tree symbol, which is even older than Christianity and not exclusive to any one religion, remains a firmly established part of our holiday customs. A beautiful live Christmas tree engages our senses of sight, touch, and smell, and evokes feelings of joy in both young and old.

Cut Christmas Tree Selection And Care

The following tips for caring for your Christmas tree are from an interview given by Washington State University plant pathologist Gary Chastagner, WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center. These tips will not only make sure your tree looks good through the holidays, but also help ensure that it doesn't dry out and become a fire hazard.

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• When selecting a tree tap the butt on the ground a couple of times and watch to see if any of the fresh green needles fall off.
  
  "You can expect some dead brown needles from the inside of the tree to fall off, but if a tree is losing more than a few green needles it's already drying out and should be avoided," Chastagner said. "If you test a few trees and they're all dropping green needles you should probably move on to another tree lot."
  
  
• Once you get the tree home, trim a quarter-inch thick disk off the butt (unless that's been done for you at the lot when you bought the tree) and put the tree in water. Unless you mount the tree in its stand right away, trim another quarter inch before placing it in the stand. That ensures that the tree will be able to take up water.
  
  
• Always trim the butt with a cut perpendicular to the tree trunk. Cutting it at an angle or "whittling" the base of the tree to fit the stand seriously decreases the tree's ability to take up water.
  
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• Use a tree stand with adequate water-holding capacity for your tree. As a general rule, the stand should provide one quart of water for each inch of trunk diameter, or a gallon of water per day for a 4-inch diameter tree trunk.
  
  Chastagner researched Christmas tree stands, and found that only six out of 22 stands tested provided adequate water-holding capacity for trees larger than 4 inches in diameter.
  
  "The water capacity listed on the label or box can be misleading," Chastagner said. "That's the capacity of the reservoir when the stand is empty, and you need to allow for the amount of water that will be displaced when the tree trunk is put in the stand."
  
  
• Display your tree away from heat sources such as heat vents, fireplaces and direct sunlight because they'll speed up drying. Lowering the room temperature will slow the drying process and reduce water use.
  
  
• Providing an adequate supply of clean water every day is the best way to maintain freshness. Chastagner advises against using water additives whether they are commercial preservatives or old home remedies such as adding sugar, aspirin or bleach to the water.
  
  "Additives don't work," Chastagner said. "Adequate clean water does."
  
  
• Monitor your tree for dryness through the holiday season. If the tree is dry, remove it from the house.

Live Christmas Trees

Some people have a live Christmas tree in their home during the holidays, planting it in their garden at the end of the season. If you plan to enjoy a live Christmas tree, here are some things to consider:

• If you live in an area where the ground freezes, decide where in your garden you wish to eventually plant the tree, and then prepare the hole prior to the first snow.
  
  
• Trees should be kept in the house no more than 10 days - fewer days are even better.
  
  
• Move the tree in and out of doors gradually � from outdoors to a garage, then to a cool part of the house, then to a warm room. Reverse this procedure after Christmas.
  
  
• Move tree with a handtruck, skateboard, or wagon to avoid injury.
  
  
• Do not use flocking or artificial snow.
  
  
• Do not use hot lights.
  
  
• Keep tree in the coolest part of the room.
  
  
• When selecting a tree, container grown is usually a better choice than ball and burlap because the root system is better established.
  
  
• Some good choices are Alberta, Norway or Colorado blue spruce; Noble, Grand, White, Alpine or Douglas firs; Scotch, Ponderosa, White, or Austrian pines.