Tree Facts
Our Trees
Real Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any other agricultural crop. To ensure a constant supply, Christmas Tree growers plant one to three new seedlings for every tree they harvest.
Real Christmas Trees: The Best Choice
- Each holiday season, shoppers find themselves confronted with a choice: celebrate with a fresh, real tree, or one that is artificial plastic or aluminum. What most people don’t realize is that the best choice has always been the traditional and natural choice – a Real Christmas Tree.
Real Christmas Trees Benefit the Environment
- While they’re growing, Real Christmas Trees support life by absorbing carbon dioxide and other gases and emitting fresh oxygen. The farms that grow Christmas Trees stabilize soil, protect water supplies and provide refuge for wildlife while creating scenic green belts. Often, Christmas Trees are grown on soil that doesn’t support other crops.
Real Christmas Trees Are Renewable
- Real Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any other agricultural crop. To ensure a constant supply, Christmas Tree growers plant one to three new seedlings for every tree they harvest. On the other hand, artificial trees are a petroleum-based product manufactured primarily in Chinese factories. The average family uses an artificial tree for only six to nine years before throwing it away, where it will remain in a landfill for centuries after disposal.
Real Christmas Trees Are Recyclable
- Real Christmas Trees are biodegradable, which means they can be easily reused or recycled for mulch and other purposes.
“A Life Cycle Assessment was performed to guide the environmentally conscious consumers on their choice of Christmas tree. The natural tree is a better option than the artificial tree, in particular with respect to impacts on climate change and resource depletion.”
- Christmas tree farmers plant trees for you to enjoy, just like pumpkins or flowers.
- Farmers plant 2-3 trees for each that is harvested, keeping the land in green space.
- Farmers take care of their land so they can continue to grow more trees.
- Trees provide oxygen for you and absorb carbon dioxide.
- Tree farms are a great place to find wildlife, birds and insects – the habitat supports bear, deer, turkeys, rabbits, pheasants, rodents, fox, coyotes and other animals. And you may even see a wild elk in northern Wisconsin.
- there are approximately 25-30 million Real Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year.
- There are close to 350 million Real Christmas Trees currently growing on Christmas Tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers.
- North American Real Christmas Trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. Eighty percent (80%) of artificial trees worldwide are manufactured in China, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.
- Real Trees are a renewable, recyclable resource. Artificial trees contain non-biodegradable plastics and possible metal toxins such as lead.
- There are more than 4,000 local Christmas Tree recycling programs throughout the United States.
- For every Real Christmas Tree harvested, 1 to 3 seedlings are planted the following spring.
- There are about 350,000 acres in production for growing Christmas Trees in the U.S.; much of it preserving green space.
- There are close to 15,000 farms growing Christmas Trees in the U.S., and over 100,000 people are employed full or part-time in the industry.
- It can take as many as 15 years to grow a tree of typical height (6 – 7 feet) or as little as 4 years, but the average growing time is 7 years.
- The top Christmas Tree producing states are Oregon, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Washington.
- The most common Christmas Tree species are: balsam fir, Douglas-fir, Fraser fir, noble fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine and white pine.
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) and your local Christmas Tree professional.
