Many People Insist On A Real Christmas Tree Each Year

Even with the bad weather over the weekend, there were a lot of people shopping for Christmas trees. The National Christmas Tree Association says 25-30 million real Christmas trees are sold each year.

For every real Christmas tree cut down each year, up to 3 saplings are planted each spring to replace it.

Depending on the type of tree, it can take up to 15 years to grow a Christmas tree to a height of between 6 and 7 feet. Some trees grow quicker, and they’re ready in as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years.

At any given time, there are about 350 million Christmas trees being grown on 15,000 tree farms in the United States. It’s an industry that provides 100,000 full- or part-time jobs.

Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states, with Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin the top 5 tree-producing states. New York comes in seventh on the list.

The trees favored for use as Christmas trees are balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, Noble fir, Scotch, Virginia and white pine.

And once you’re finished with the tree, there are more than 4,000 Christmas tree recycling programs around the country. Locally, you can find programs that’ll recycle your tree and give you the mulch to spread in your garden. Most sellers of Christmas trees will know where and when those recycling programs are, so ask when you buy your tree.