Christmas tree farm owners explain what all goes into a tree farm
MONROE COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) For some this is a Christmas Wonderland, 60 acres of Christmas Trees.
But before they get to your living room, there’s a lot of work that goes into getting them just right.
“We try to plant around 1200 or so trees a year. Starting that year, we have to start trimming them and taking out any bad branches.” said Lowell Worthey, Owner of Worthey Christmas Tree Farm. “We have to go through and trim them and fertilize every tree. Some trees have fungus that grow on them, so we have to spray for that.”
And it’s not just the trees that need attention, there’s upkeep to the property between the trees too.
Lowell Worthey owns Worthey Christmas Tree Farm
He said there is also a routine to make sure they never run out of trees.
“We are on a five-year rotation here. It takes around five or six years to get a tree large enough to sale.” said Worthey. “What we do is called propagation.”
Propagation includes clipping the tree during the first year, and letting the tree stay in the greenhouse for one year. After the first year, it is planted, and then it stays in the field for four years, where it is sheered, watered, and fertilized.
Co-Owner of Worthey Christmas Tree Farm Jacob Dickens said, the long hours of work are all worth it, when people show up to buy a tree.
“It is a lot of work, but this time of year when you get here, it is so rewarding.” said Dickens. “Seeing everybody get to come with their families and cut their tree, it makes all of the hard work worth it.”
According to CNN, 77% of Americans in 2023, chose an artificial tree over a real one, but Worthey said that has not been the case in Monroe County
“It seems like there has been an up click during the past few years.” said Worthey. “I think with covid, everybody has been wanting to get outside more. Families get to spend more time together by coming out and finding that perfect tree. ”
Dickens said the farm usually sells about 800-1000 of the 1200 trees that are planted each year.
