Oh, Carolina Christmas Tree…

OLD NORTH STATE – The White House has one, millions of Americans have one, and you likely have one too – a Fraser Fir Christmas Tree from the Old North State. To be sure, North Carolina is an absolute juggernaut when it comes to the Christmas agriculture industry. We are number two in tree production, as well as number two in our poinsettia harvest as well.

As you and the family enjoy your time around the Christmas tree this holiday, here are some interesting facts about the mighty Fraser fir.

• North Carolina has approximately 1,300 growers producing Fraser Fir Christmas trees on an estimated 40,000 acres. That’s 50-80 million planted trees!
• Fraser fir represents over 99.4% of all species grown in North Carolina.
• Fraser fir is grown in the far Western North Carolina counties which include Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga and Yancey.
• The North Carolina Christmas Tree Industry is ranked second in the nation in number of trees harvested and cash receipts.
• North Carolina produces over 20% of the Real Christmas Trees in the U.S.
• The North Carolina Fraser fir has been judged the Nation’s best through a contest sponsored by the National Christmas Tree Association and chosen for the official White House Christmas tree 13 times (more than any other species)….1971, 1973, 1982, 1984, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008 2012, and soon to be 2018!
• The North Carolina Fraser fir Christmas tree is the most popular Christmas tree in North America and is shipped into every state in the U.S. as well as the Caribbean Islands, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Japan and other points all over the world.
• The North Carolina Fraser fir has soft, pleasant-to-touch needles, incomparable needle retention, long lasting aroma, and more pliable yet stronger branches for even the heaviest ornaments.
• Individual Christmas tree growers may sell anywhere from a few dozen trees per year to hundreds of thousands of trees per year.
• To ensure enough trees for harvest, growers plant one to three seedlings for every tree harvested.
• More than 2,000 trees are usually planted per acre. On average 1,000-1,500 of these trees will survive.
• It takes six to ten years of fighting heavy rain, wind, hail and drought to get a mature tree.