Christmas trees, this way
The Boyd Mountain Tree farm in Haywood County attracts visitors looking to make getting a tree a family experience.
There. Could that be the one? Robust, evenly distributed branches—but a little too portly. “Like a little fat man,” the boy, about 11 or 12, thought to himself. That won’t work.
Breathing through his checkered blue scarf, he hoofed it over to another section of the farm, scanning, searching, his elbows skimming needles as he jogged between rows. This one’s tall enough, but scraggly on the right side. That one, a bit lopsided. A large gap in the midsection of another.
He sighed. Maybe everyone got all the good trees already.
He paused a moment and raised his gloves to his face, blowing to warm his cupped hands. Now his glasses were fogged. He removed them, wiping the lenses using the inner fleece of his jacket. His boots crunched in the leaves as he set his feet wide to keep balance on the steep hillside. A puff of his breath billowed into the crisp breeze and then dissipated, and when the mist in front of his face parted, he looked up. Spotted it. About 40 feet away, up hill, three trees down the row from the grassy pathway in between the fields, glistening in the light of a clear but chilly afternoon.
The perfect Christmas tree.
He envisioned it standing proudly to the left of his fireplace at home, its strings of colored bulbs the only source of light in the room save a small lamp or candle. Just short of eight feet tall, the tree’s topper might touch the ceiling, and its five-foot base would provide plenty of room for the mountains of presents that would be piled around the tree on Christmas Eve. Its branches and stems, covered in dark, lustrous green needles, filled every space uniformly from top to bottom—there would be a place to hang every single ornament that had been tucked away since last year.
The boy eagerly scampered back down the hill to tell his mom and dad, who, with flushed faces and winded lungs after their attempts to keep up with their son, breathed a long, white cloud of relief into the cool mountain air.
50 Million, One-of-a-Kind Christmas Trees
North Carolina’s western ridges and peaks of the Southern Appalachians produce the most Christmas trees on the East Coast. From the Blue Ridge to the Smokies, slopes covered in evergreen rows are common sights among hardwood forests and rocky balds.
Many Christmas tree farms are not merely fields covered in Fraser firs—they’re a multifaceted holiday experience. Some farms offer hayrides, animal petting zoos, visits with Santa and refreshments in addition to the tree sales. You can get your wreaths and trimmings at the farm, too.
Tucked in a horseshoe-shaped valley on the opposite side of the mountain as Cataloochee Ski Area between Waynesville and Maggie Valley in the Great Smoky Mountains, the picturesque Boyd Mountain Christmas Tree Farm has a road that winds through multiple slopes of trees and several guest cabins alongside a reflective pond at the Boyd family home.
Trees were first planted on the farm by Danny and Betsy Boyd, but before that, Danny’s father and uncles grew potatoes and tobacco and raised cattle on the land. Danny wasn’t raised on the farm, but when he and Betsy moved back to the area in the ‘70s, they purchased some of the land from his uncles. Danny retired from his career as a dentist in Waynesville and planted the first trees in 1984, but it wouldn’t be until the mid-1990s until the trees were large enough to sell.
The Boyds sell some trees wholesale and operate a retail lot at Lake Junaluska, but the crux of the operation is “Choose and Cut”—the name for Christmas tree farms that invite folks to walk through the fields and select their own trees. They can even cut it down themselves, if they prefer. Today, the Boyds’ focus is on the seven authentic log cabins they rent out on the property, while their son David, who also lives on the farm, manages the tree production.
“This is a family partnership,” Betsy Boyd said.
Located close to Interstates 26 and 40, most of the Boyds’ customers come from about three hours away.
“We’re a pretty popular route,” Boyd said. “A lot of people have never been to a Christmas tree farm. They say, ‘Really? You can cut your own tree and select it?’ It’s like going back in time.” The Boyd tree farm sees many repeat customers, including some that have been coming for a decade. They make a day of it—visiting the tree farm and then the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, the Polar Express in Bryson City or the old-fashioned holiday celebrations in downtown Waynesville.
Betsy said she enjoys the farm’s busiest time of the year.
“It’s an awfully busy time for those five, six weeks,” she said. “We certainly enjoy meeting all the people. When they’re coming to get a Christmas tree, it’s a happy time. Lots of good memories are made here. We go through gallons and gallons of cider and hot chocolate and coffee.”
John Dellinger of Two Ds Nursery in Newland enjoys the independence of Christmas tree farming, a business he runs along with his father, Herman. Herman Dellinger is a pioneer of the North Carolina Christmas tree industry, having planted his first crop of Fraser firs along with his brothers in 1959. He served as one of the founders of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Growers Association.
“Back in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, a few people were kind of experimenting with it,” Dellinger said.
“As far as Christmas trees over another type of farming, it’s very labor-intensive,” he said. “It’s kind of a long-term investment.” And in the Christmas tree business, you’ve got to enjoy being around people, John Dellinger said. Many customers travel about 100 miles to get to the Dellingers’ tree farm.
“Folks just like that experience of getting to come here to the mountains and select a fresh tree,” Dellinger said.
Like the Boyds and the Dellingers, the Joneses in Marshall have made Christmas tree farming a family business.
“We just wanted to raise our kids here,” said Donna Jones, who lives on Frosty Mountain Christmas Trees farm, with 80,000 Fraser firs on 55 acres in Madison County, a short distance from the North Carolina-Tennessee state line. The Jones family came to the land 31 years ago. Donna and Chipper’s three children are now 23, 20 and 19, and continue to help out on the farm.
At Frosty Mountain, which is named for the rime frost that covers the top of a nearby peak for much of the winter, tree-seekers come from many miles away—Atlanta, Ga., Asheville, N.C., Spartanburg, S.C., Johnson City, Tenn., even Charleston, S.C.
“They come back year after year. A lot of folks have watched our kids grow up,” Jones said. Customers will ask about the kids—where are they, what are they doing now? They ask about the Joneses’ aging dog Abby, who doesn’t spend much time outside anymore, and about the big white dog Moses, who is a hit with the children.
One might think that things slow down at the Christmas tree farm after the holidays. Well, one would be wrong.
“It’s not slow. We’re going full blast all the time,” Jones said. As soon as the harvest is over, she and company check for any trees that didn’t get sheared and look at soil samples. The spring is the time for planting, fertilizing and scouting for insects. Then, it’s time to start grading the trees and shearing them.
Besides the joy of spending time with her own family and with many other families, Jones finds other cross season splendors that come from Christmas tree farming.
“I love finding the garden spiders, the big yellow and black ones, and their webs will be across from tree to tree,” she said. “Finding the turkey nests under the tree limbs—they come out of the forest and nest. I love being up on the mountain and hearing the shrill call of a hawk. The praying mantises are so fun. Looking at the beautiful horizons and the mountains projected in the background. Breathing the fresh air.”
However, there’s always the reality of life outdoors.
“I don’t enjoy so much seeing the coyotes after the rabbits or the yellow jacket nests,” Jones said.
‘A Family Affair’
Every year, Patsy Parrish and her family drive from their home just north of Atlanta to the North Carolina mountains, where daughter Elizabeth selects the Parrish family Christmas tree. The tradition started when Elizabeth was about 6 years old.
“We’ve returned there every year since then,” Parrish said. “It’s such a beautiful place.”
The anticipation always started before Thanksgiving. “When are we going to go? Are we going Thanksgiving Day? We have to get there early or later so we’re not interrupting their dinner,” Elizabeth would say.
“It’s just a big family day for us,” Parrish said. “She’s just all about Christmas and the whole experience.”
When the day finally comes, the Parrishes make a day of it, getting up early, having breakfast, traveling to fetch the tree and then stopping somewhere along the way home to eat dinner. The trees coming home to Georgia have looked a little different each year.
“It’s whatever suits her mood that day, you know,” Parrish said about her daughter. “Sometimes we have the uniform trees. And sometimes we have the kinda one-sided trees. The ones with gaps—you can fill those with the big ornaments.”
Today, chief-tree-selector Elizabeth is 17, but she doesn’t miss the family trip to find a fresh tree.
“She’s an only child. It’s a big deal for us,” Parrish explained. “It’s nice for us that she still wants to go.”
Unlike Elizabeth, the Blevins kids don’t have it so easy—the three siblings have had to compete to find the family’s tree each year.
“For years we have gone up there [and] all walked around as a family,” said Karen Blevins, of Mars Hill. “We’ve debated and chosen quite a few different trees and argued over which one is the right one. It’s always a race to see who can pick out the one that passes my inspection.”
The Blevinses take home two Christmas trees—one is between 10 and 12 feet tall. When their youngest daughter was 5 or 6 years old, the Blevinses started a new tradition by letting her select and decorate a small tree, about three feet tall, for the children’s play area in the loft. Now 17 years old, she continues the tradition—though the “small” tree selected is now about five feet in height.
It’s almost an all-day event. The family eats breakfast, gets dressed, piles in the truck and then drives between 30 and 40 minutes to the tree farm, where upon arriving they all head in “a million different directions,” Blevins said. Blevins also gets a wreath while she’s there. Upon returning home, the family decorates the largest tree together and takes the family Christmas card photo with the tree in the background.
“We’ve been doing this for lots of years,” Blevins said. “It’s a family affair. We had a foreign exchange student with us last year who stayed through Christmas just so she could be a part of it. She went up and helped us pick it out.”
Blevins does use an artificial tree downstairs, where she is nervous about a tree catching on fire. But, she said, “I’m not ready to give up what a real tree smells like. I just love having a real tree in my house.”
A $125 million industry
Is the North Carolina Christmas tree industry recession-proof?
“I believe it’s held its own,” said Jennifer Greene, executive director of the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association, which is located in Boone. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, Greene said, Christmas tree sales in 2009 remained flat compared to 2008 sales despite the crippling economic recession. Even during tough financial times, families aren’t willing to sacrifice having a fresh Christmas tree, she said.
“They’re still going to have a big tree, they might just downsize to something that’s more affordable,” Greene said.
In 2008, the North Carolina Christmas tree industry generated over $125 million in sales—not to mention the boon the business brings to area restaurants, hotels and retail stores.
About 95 percent of the Christmas trees grown in North Carolina are the elite Fraser fir, which grows naturally only in the Southern Appalachians, requiring cool temperatures and lots of rainfall. Sometimes nicknamed the “Cadillac” of Christmas trees, Fraser firs are desired for their excellent needle retention, soft needles, strong branches, fragrant aroma and lovely color—needles of deep green with silvery white undersides that reflect the glow of holiday lights. Some 1,600 growers raise more than 50 million Fraser firs on more than 25,000 acres in the state, which ranked second in the nation for Christmas tree production, behind Oregon.
“A lot of the land that Christmas trees are on used to be used for tobacco and cattle and even cabbage,” Greene said. More farmers are entering the Christmas tree business, with Choose and Cut and agritourism driving the industry. “The younger generation is getting back into Choose and Cut,” Greene said. The state has approximately 400 Choose and Cut Christmas tree farms.
Individual Christmas tree growers can sell anywhere from a few dozen trees to hundreds of thousands per year, according to the state association. The North Carolina Fraser fir is shipped to every state in the U.S. as well as the Caribbean islands, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Japan, and other countries.
The North Carolina Fraser fir has been selected as the official White House Christmas tree 11 times—more than any other tree species—most recently in 2008, when Russell Estes and Jessie Davis of Crumpler presented an 18.5-foot-tall Fraser fir from their farm to First Lady Laura Bush.
The Perfect Christmas Tree’s home
Nowhere has the magic of the Christmas tree been felt more, perhaps, than in the rural mountain locale of Mitchell County, N.C., known as the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree.
This story traces back to 1988, when author Gloria Houston, who was born and raised in the Ingalls community just outside of Spruce Pine, published The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, a children’s book.
The book is set in the Appalachian Mountains during World War I and shares a tender story of family ties and the holiday customs of Appalachian people. Houston originally wrote the book as a Christmas gift for her mother, and she has said that although the book is fiction, the characters are based on people she knows.
In the story, World War I had ended, but a small girl’s father had still not returned home. As it had been his role to find the perfect Christmas tree for the town, the task fell to his daughter, Ruthie, and her mother. In the heartwarming tale, mother and daughter work together to bring the tree home from a rocky cliff, and their trip becomes the basis of a new town legend. The book, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Barbara Cooney, became a seasonal classic.
In 2003, the author served as grand marshal of Spruce Pine’s Christmas parade, which took its theme from the popular children’s book.
“Prior to that time, we had been losing a lot of manufacturing jobs in the area,” said Patti Jensen, director of tourism for the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce. These jobs were primarily in textiles and furniture—once booming industries in Western North Carolina that have all but disappeared due to outsourcing.
Somewhat jokingly, Houston suggested that her book be used to help the area, making Spruce Pine and Mitchell County the “Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree.” “We took her up on that,” Jensen said. “A group of local county folks got together at the town hall and started talking about ideas of what to do.” The discussion centered around the area’s greatest need—jobs and income. The group then developed a project to create handmade products pictured in the book, and folks who had lost their jobs were the first to be asked to participate. The project has now created nearly 100 individual small businesses, and the collection includes Christmas ornaments, children’s toys, knit caps, handmade cards, rugs, stockings, candlesticks, rocking chairs, pottery, and more. The crafts are sold in the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree store located in downtown Spruce Pine and online, and a few years ago, some locally produced ornaments were hung in the White House.
Jensen said that very little retraining was required—locals already had the skills to create quality arts and crafts. “We’ve been really amazed at the creativity and the talent of the people in the region,” she said. “We knew that the people in the area had talent and skills, [but] most had worked at these plants for 20 years and never tried to do it as a business of their own.”
Today, many of the artisans have created their own businesses through the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree project, while for others the project provides supplemental income. And thanks to national media exposure, the promotional campaign has really caught on.
“Many people in the community have been on vacation and will say they’re from Spruce Pine, and people will say, ‘Oh, the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree,’” Jensen said. “It’s certainly been a piece of the puzzle in helping the community stay afloat and creating some income for people and exposure for the community during a time when things were going downhill.”