Thankfully we have enjoyed some semblance of normality in the later part of this year, and I hope that reassuring normality will continue as we get ready to welcome all your lovely, familiar faces to our tree farm in November and December. We look forward to seeing you all.
I have added an FAQ section to the website this year to hopefully answer some of those queries that seem to pop up every year.
One question I didn’t address is, ‘How long does it take to grow a Christmas tree'?’, well the answer is, ‘A VERY long time’.
There is much more to growing a Christmas Tree than we could have ever imagined when we first began nurturing the plantation in 2009.
Our fastest growing variety is the spruce tree and we can usually grow a 6ft spruce in around 6-8years. The Nordman Fir trees are much slower to grow, and that is what gives them such great needle holding qualities. A 6ft Nordman fir tree will take us around 8 to ten years to grow. Each year the trees are shaped, several times and protected from disease with a sympathetic, minimal, pesticide program. We then re-plant around 1500 trees a year and protect each and every new sapling with its own little rabbit proof fence, to give it a fighting chance against our biggest fan, the Herefordshire bunny! We then have to weed, and mow the ten acre farm constantly throughout the summer to stop any root damage, and as the air cools and the grass stops growing we then begin preparations to welcome our lovely visitors.
We are so pleased to have some absolutely beautiful Christmas trees ready for your sitting rooms, hallways, porches and believe it or not even bedrooms this year! (I thought it was just Nell and Ted who were partial to a bedroom Christmas Tree….apparently not!)
Also, at the time of writing this, we eagerly await news of Aubrey and Clare’s new addition to the Larchwood team. They are expecting a beautiful baby boy any day now, and we cannot wait to meet him. The guys have very kindly said they would happily still supply trees to you lovely lot from their beautiful Larchwood Studio, (just up the hill from Hay Bridge). This year, they will open Monday through to Thursday, so luckily, there is somewhere to buy a festive forestry tree every day during December. As always we are very grateful for their participation and support, thanks team ‘Want to Canoe?’
So, we look forward to seeing you all soon………
Abi, Mojo, Nell, Ted and Ralph (who has grown ALOT)