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I am writing this before I head to the mountains this week to pick up Christmas wreaths for the Extension Master Gardener SM fundraiser. I know this year is really tough for those folks. Many of the farm owners up that way make their living for the whole year within the three months before Christmas. So, I wanted to talk a little about Christmas tree farms last week and Christmas greenery care this week.

How about those wreaths and Christmas trees? I had an article last weekend to talk about the trees but what about the wreaths? Have you ever wondered where all that beautiful greenery comes from?

Extension Master Gardener SM volunteers do a fundraiser every year selling Christmas wreaths. The wreaths this year came from a family-owned farm in Alleghany County, just outside the little town of Sparta. They grow roughly 300 acres of Christmas trees for wholesale and retail markets. I had a chance to talk with them when I picked the wreaths up from their farm.

A woman and her brother talked to me a little more and I found out the Christmas trees were suffering from a pretty severe drought last season and then the hurricane this season. It didn’t hurt the quality of the product though.

One of my friends owns Eastern Pines Dental in Greenville and he buys wreaths from us every year. I asked how they were doing and he said they were just as perfect as the day I brought them last year. Ms. Amy told me that to keep them fresh, it is a good idea to spray them down with water twice a week with a spritz from a squirt bottle.

Ms. Amy said they cut them fresh that weekend to make the wreaths for us. Her brother chimed in and pointed to a tree on the hillside that had been limbed from the ground to within a foot of the top. He said they needed a little more so he had to cut it close to home. Ms. Amy said she couldn’t believe he did that, she had grown that tree near the house to be her Christmas tree this year.

The greenery for our wreaths comes from the trimmings produced when they prune the trees. They have to prune to get that perfect Christmas tree that consumers have grown to expect. She also said that trees are really expensive this year. There is a lot of work that goes into those trees and wreaths. Did you know that they grow Christmas trees for anywhere from six to twelve years? That is a long time to get a return on an investment.

If you are having an issue in your home landscape or have a question, give me a call or drop me an email. Your question just might make the paper. Make sure to check out our Beaufort County Master Gardener Facebook page to see the Plant of the Week, Info Fridays, and upcoming classes! Until next time, Happy Gardening!